Manuela Álvarez, a Colombian designer, is the only Latin American nominated for the LVMH Prize, one of the global fashion industry's top awards. Her brand works with over 850 traditional artisan and indigenous families, incorporating ancestral knowledge into luxury garments. The approach merges sustainability, contemporary design, and tradition.
Manuela Álvarez is advancing Colombian fashion into international luxury with her MAZ brand. She calls her process a “laboratorio textil artesanal 360”, where 90% of garments are hand-intervened, as she stated. “Podemos decir con orgullo que el 90% de nuestras prendas son intervenidas a mano”, Álvarez noted. Participants in the production chain can be contacted and hired through her website, leading to two UN invitations. The LVMH Prize nomination, from the world's largest luxury group including Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fendi, provides visibility, mentorship, and global distribution networks. Álvarez highlights Colombia's diversity: “el auge del tropical chic que ha tomado gran fuerza últimamente, no es lo único que tenemos en Colombia, también somos montañas y Páramo y sentido artesanal”. She advises emerging talents that sustainability, identity, and a unique voice are key to competing in the industry.