LÁAK

Country world · 3 models

Colombia

Molas – colour in layers

The Colombian world refers to molas, the textile art of the Guna – also known as Gunadule – whose territories lie in Colombia and Panama. The three designs carry the principle of layered colour contours onto the textile insert.

Models from Colombia
LÁAK collar “Orange & Bordeaux” from the Colombia country world: brown base with emboss, metal buckle and textile insert – product visualisation
Close-up of the textile insert of “Orange & Bordeaux” – crop of the product visualisation

Technique

Reverse appliqué: cutting, not weaving

Molas are neither woven nor embroidered. They are a sewing art: several layers of fabric are stacked, shapes are cut out of the upper layers, and the colours underneath come into view.

  1. 1LayerTwo or more fabrics in different colours are laid on top of each other.
  2. 2CutShapes are cut from the upper layers. Experienced makers design freehand as they cut.
  3. 3SewThe layers are sewn by hand.
  4. 4RevealContours, lines and layers of colour appear – the characteristic stepped look of a mola.

Background

The tradition

The Guna live in Panama and in Colombia. On the Colombian side, their territories lie in the Gulf of Urabá region of Antioquia and Chocó. Molas are part of Guna women’s traditional dress: according to UNESCO, they are two hand-stitched cloth panels, one on the front and one on the back of the blouse, made by women and omeguiids.

Panama’s Ministry of Culture describes the technique as layered fabrics, cut and sewn by hand – and molas as the everyday dress of most Guna women in Panama and Colombia.

Molas are also legally protected: according to UNESCO, in 2001 the Guna registered them as a collective Indigenous right under Panama’s Law No. 20 of 2000.

Translation

What the designs make of it

That is exactly why we treat the three visualisations as designs with a mola-inspired textile insert – not as molas. They borrow the idea of nested contour lines and stepped colours. If a future model were to use real molas, that would require a collaboration that respects the rights of the Guna.

Models from Colombia

  • LÁAK collar “Orange & Bordeaux” from the Colombia country world: brown base with emboss, metal buckle and textile insert – product visualisation Visualisation

    Colombia

    Orange & Bordeaux

    Nested contour lines in orange and bordeaux, separated by fine black edges.

  • LÁAK collar “Yellow & Orange” from the Colombia country world: brown base with emboss, metal buckle and textile insert – product visualisation Visualisation

    Colombia

    Yellow & Orange

    Bright yellow and orange lines wind across a black ground.

  • LÁAK collar “Black, Red & Blue” from the Colombia country world: brown base with emboss, metal buckle and textile insert – product visualisation Visualisation

    Colombia

    Black, Red & Blue

    Parallel bands of red, dove blue and bordeaux on black that run out into a curve.

Sources

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