Our story
A Maya family business since 1986
TOPACA designs, produces and exports Guatemalan handicrafts. We work side by side with more than 500 artisans, and many of our pieces are one of a kind, made from repurposed huipiles (blouses) and cortes (skirts).
Our heritage
Founded by Tomás and Rosa
TOPACA began in 1986 with two young textile artisans, both from indigenous families who worked with handicraft textiles. Tomás’s handiwork and Rosa’s eye for color soon caught the attention of buyers from overseas.
To fill those larger orders, they began partnering with artisans from their home regions around Lake Atitlán and Chichicastenango. Our goal has stayed the same: high quality products, direct contact and great service, and sharing the beauty of our country with the world.
- 1985Tomás and Rosa meet and marry. Each runs a small market stall.
- 1986TOPACA begins as a small stand in the Chichicastenango market, then grows into a small souvenir shop.
- 1988The business is registered under the name TOPACA and receives its export license.
- 1999The shop becomes a wholesale business and a second store opens in Panajachel, on Lake Atitlán.
- TodayStill a family business, TOPACA works with more than 500 artisans and exports to more than 31 countries on 6 continents.
Co-founder
Tomás
Tomás learned to sew as a boy from his father in Chichicastenango. He started out making accessories, and when tourists loved them he moved on to designing and making clothes. Growing up among the colorful outdoor markets of Chichicastenango, he quickly learned Guatemala’s weaving and textile traditions.
Co-founder
Rosa
Rosa began working with textiles as a girl in her birth town, Santa Catarina Palopó, on the shores of Lake Atitlán. Weaving on a backstrap loom, she developed her talent for combining colors and designs, which soon led her to create all kinds of items.
The artisans
More than 500 artisans, not a factory
Our team is made up of more than 500 men and women artisans and homeworkers from different regions of Guatemala: the towns around Lake Atitlán, Sololá, Chimaltenango, Sacatepéquez and the highlands of Chichicastenango, Quetzaltenango and Totonicapán.
Our artisans work from home and manage their own time, so their work fits around other income such as the harvest seasons. Tomás and Rosa started a training workshop to keep the quality our clients know us for.
We work under fair trade practices and build long-term relationships. Our owners speak K’iche’, Kaqchikel, Tz’utujil and Spanish, so artisans can work with us in their own language.
500+
artisans and homeworkers across Guatemala
20+ years
more than half of our artisans have worked with us this long
4 languages
K’iche’, Kaqchikel, Tz’utujil and Spanish
Behind the textiles
A story behind every thread
Very few people know the long process each piece goes through before it reaches a store. As a company founded and run by a Maya family, we want you to see our products the way we do, and to value the work and technique behind every piece.
The colors and patterns of traditional Maya clothing represent the beauty of our country and the stories of our ancestors.
Vintage
Repurposed huipiles and cortes
Every huipil (blouse) and corte (skirt) in our products was first woven and worn by a Maya woman, who spent months making it by hand. When a piece is considered old or out of style, its owner sells it, and it may change hands several times before reaching the local market. That is where we find pieces that fit our designs.
Each one is unique in color and pattern. Giving them a new life lets us trade fairly with the sellers, create more jobs and help preserve Maya culture.
Trendy
Handwoven ikat fabric
Our ikat (jaspe) fabrics are woven by hand in the homes of Maya weavers, in designs and colors chosen for our different markets. Looms and weaving techniques have been passed down from generation to generation.
One roll of fabric takes about 20 days to weave, and we are grateful to work side by side with our weavers and give their work the value it deserves.
See the work of our artisans
Browse more than 660 handmade products, available wholesale.