How Luna Zorro Began

The start of my textile and lifestyle brand based in Antigua, Guatemala.

Luna Zorro truly came to life in the fall of 2014 when I was in search of the perfect bedspread. I had already been living in Antigua for 9 months and was sure I could find something easily. But the more I looked, the more it seemed that I could only find bright and bold primary/secondary colored pieces, and while beautifully traditional to Guatemala, I didn’t want a bright palette in my bedroom. One morning while passing through the artisan market, feeling unconvinced I’d ever find what I had in mind, I began chatting with a local weaver who took an interest in what I was looking for.

The more we spoke, the more he seemed to be sure his family could make what I was describing. I drew up a simple sketch of what had been floating around in my mind’s eye and I pulled threads from other pieces he already had as a sample of the colors I wanted. It seemed too good to be true – I was skeptical that it would come out right but thought I should take the chance. I paid him a deposit and he told me to come back in three weeks.

Sure enough, I returned to his shop and completely fell in love with the piece he presented to me. What I had been envisioning all the while was now being unveiled before my eyes. Coming from a creative and entrepreneurial background, a whole new world of possibility seemed to be opening up to me. I had given the design and this artisan worked wonders with his fellow weavers who wove the bedspread on a pedal loom (also known as a foot loom) to create exactly what I wanted. I paid him the remainder of what I owed him and rushed home to throw it on my bed, excited about not only the perfection of the finished piece but even more, inspired by witnessing something go from thought to form so beautifully. A little spark inside me grew larger and my instincts told me to explore more of this process.

One month later, I was contacted by Hildegard Vasquez, an architect and designer in Casco Viejo, Panama (where I used to live) to have a dozen bedspreads made for an interior remodel of the gorgeous boutique hotel, Las Clementinas. Hildegard had seen a photo of my original bedspread on Instagram and contacted to me to find the source. I responded by telling her it was my own design and we could have more made to order! We collaborated on design ideas and colors and I secured a (new) weaver who could help me complete the project within the time frame of the remodel project. It was an incredibly proud moment when all the bedspreads were completed and done exactly to spec.

It was the second defining moment of this adventure that told me I was on the right path and that this could become a viable business model. Before I shipped the finished pieces to Panama, I thought it would be wise to pick a business name and sew labels into the bedspreads - just in case this really became something I could do more of. I chose the name Luna Zorro (inspired by my children’s middle names Moon and Fox, translated into Spanish), I bought the URL, and crossed my fingers. Just like that, my first commissioned project was successfully sent out into the world.

An early image of Las Clementinas with the bed spread featured.

Now, here we are almost ten years later. Luna Zorro not only still weaves large custom orders for high end hotels and designers around the globe, but has an online shop, a brick and mortar studio in Antigua that I designed and built from the ground up, and runs curated travel itineraries and trips for international travelers. It has been a wild and wonderful adventure of ups and downs, failing and succeeding, believing in and following my instincts.

I am so grateful to call this my passion, my job.