This rectangular bag is made of rustic hand-spun wool woven on a loom and lined with cotton fabric in a neutral colour. The two straps are braided in rawhide with the guasquería technique, and come in three colours of natural undyed wool: white, gray and chocolate.
©Federico Molinari
©Federico Molinari
©Federico Molinari
©Federico Molinari
©Federico Molinari
Raquelina Niciolich Arocena
- Southwool
- Bag maker
- Manantiales, Uruguay
- Rising Star
Contact
Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese
Hours:
By appointment only
By appointment only
Phone:
+598 99124093
+598 99124093
©Federico Molinari
Carrying traditions forward
- • Raquelina has always been interested in fashion and craftsmanship
- • Her bags are a mix of modernity and tradition
- • She uses scrap materials as well as noble raw materials
At the age of 14, Raquelina Nicolich Arocena redecorated her father's workshop and started playing at being a craftswoman and designer. "I wanted to learn to draw the way haute couture designers drew – Courrèges, Kenzo, Cacharel, whom I admired," she says, and soon she began dressing her dolls in clothes she had made. "That is where my passion for recycling, mixing techniques and materials comes from." In 2016 she opened, together with her partner Florencia Diaz, a workshop where she started making fashion accessories. In 2022 they separated and Raquelina set out on her own in a small town called Manantiales, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of Uruguay. She makes pieces that in many cases are the product of collaboration with gaucho artisans. "I would define the workshop as a union of craft skills. An experimental fusion of all kinds of traditional and innovative crafts," she says.
Read the full interviewWorks
Photo: ©Federico Molinari
Herbal bag
Photo: ©Federico Molinari
Balloon
This cylindrical bag is made of hand-spun and hand-woven wool, lined with cotton fabric. The piece has two hand-carved wooden handles made of recycled wood, and comes in three colours: white, black, and chocolate.
Photo: ©Federico Molinari
Vicky backpack
This backpack has a cylindrical body. It is made of rustic wool, hand-spun and woven on the loom with a basketry base in totora fibre. The backpack has two straps and a waxed leather handle. The backpack comes in three colors of natural undyed wool: white, gray and chocolate.
Photo: ©Federico Molinari
Circular guampa
Another of Raquelina Niciolich Arocena's creations is this circular hand-woven basketry handbag made with totora fibre and two handles of ironed guampa. The piece is finished in leather.
Photo: ©Federico Molinari
Half Moon clutch
This is a half-moon shaped clutch, in linen thread, hand-crocheted, lined in cotton fabric and in a neutral colour. The piece has a handmade wicker fibre handle and comes in two colours: chocolate and beige.
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