About Santos
Handmade design for your interior
In Love with Mexico
During a year in Mexico we were inspired by all the splendor the country showed us. We wanted to capture that beauty and give it a place in our own home. It was our way of connecting two cultures: warm Mexico and down-to-earth the Netherlands. For us, that is a beautiful answer to the washed-out 'sad beige' interiors.
At the same time, we didn't want to close the door to Mexico, but rather keep a reason to keep returning to the country that stole our hearts. Our rugs stand for Mexican energy, sun and color — and for sustainability, as a counter-reaction to a furniture industry that runs on fast fashion and pollution. That is why we work honestly and transparently, with short supply chains, so that you consciously choose a unique, handmade work of art for your wall.
The Hands Behind the Work
"I don't just weave patterns — I weave my grandmother's stories, the colors of our mountains, the dreams of my children."
Our weavers are not anonymous workers. They are artists with names, families and stories. Families like the Mendozas, the Ruizes and the Hernándezes preserve a knowledge that isn't written in books — a knowledge of the hands, passed from mother to daughter, from father to son.
Santos guarantees fair compensation, so that our weavers can continue their craft with dignity and pass it on to the next generation.
Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca is one of the culturally richest states of Mexico, home to sixteen indigenous peoples who each preserve their own language, traditions and crafts.
The village of Teotitlán del Valle, set in the dry Central Valley an hour's drive from Oaxaca de Juárez, has been the epicenter of Zapotec weaving for more than two thousand years. Almost every household in the village owns a loom, and the knowledge is passed on orally.
By choosing Santos, you choose a centuries-old tradition that is bound to the identity of this community.