Hola!

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My name is Marcela, I was born in Monterrey and reborn in the Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen) where I lived for 12 years and worked as an underground DJ and also as a destination wedding planner. Two completely different professions that fill my heart (and that I still do) and allowed me since 2009 to travel constantly to my favourite summer destination: BERLIN!  

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Over the years I not only fell in love with the city but also with a wonderful German man and that's how Soona Otomi started with a love story....

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When I got married and moved to Berlin in the name of love (2015), leaving my sunny Caribbean behind, I felt the need to have vibrant colours in my daily life and thought of the opportunity to promote and showcase the beautiful embroideries made by the Otomi community of Tenango de Doria, Hidalgo which is an indigenous ethnic group that inhabits central Mexico.

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The more I researched, the more beautiful things I discovered about the vast ethnic groups throughout Mexico and Latin America.

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This is how Soona Otomi expanded a year later to include clothing, accessories, decoration and diverse handicrafts from different regions with products from very special places like Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Jalisco, Queretaro, Yucatan, Tlaxcala and Guerrero; as well as from other countries like Guatemala and Peru. 

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I feel very proud to be from such a culturally rich country, but unfortunately unfair to many of my brothers and sisters, so my commitment is to give back to their communities by paying fair prices and promoting the value of their work, their hands and their very lives.

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I work directly with artisan families and small textile cooperatives made up mainly of women, as well as independent artisans who contribute in a very important way to the economy of their families. 

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 The love for the colourful yarns, the love for Mexico and the love and great respect for the artisans who put their hearts into their creations inspire my trips to Mexico.

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After successful Pop Up stores as well as several arduous events over the course of 4 years, Soona Otomi achieved the dream of having a permanent store in one of the most beautiful streets of the Prenzlauer Berg district.

 

We opened three weeks before the world was turned upside down by the pandemic we are all aware of, but we have been blessed by the great response and affection of our customers, when I say "we" I speak for myself and my artisans.

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The experience has been a roller coaster but without a doubt every effort has been worth it.

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Thank you for joining us on this loving cultural journey where ethnic and handmade meets contemporary boho-chic design.

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