Matríaca Studio · Press & MEDIA
Newest to oldest
Nabi Magazine, pages 114–117. Photography: Maya Louis. Models: Mia Michelle, Enkhjin Batbold. Garments: Matríaca Studio.
2026
Print feature · Nabi Magazine
In Conversation: Natalia Bermeo for Nabi Magazine
A studio editorial and interview on process, memory and the motifs worth carrying into the future.
Nabi Magazine photographed pieces from Matríaca Studio and spoke with Natalia about how her work begins with traditional dress, sourced from family collections, vintage stores and archives, and about the time she spent in Ecuador studying local textile archives and traditional motifs.
The conversation also covers her move away from synthetic fibers toward organic and upcycled materials, and her approach to each piece as a work of art rather than a product to be rushed.
- Publication
- Nabi Magazine
- Photography
- Maya Louis
- Edition
- Print, 2026
“Growing up, my mom would wear knit sweaters that were handmade in South America, often in Ecuador. I took that familiar landscape-like knit pattern, enlarged it, and translated it onto a skirt.”
Natalia Bermeo, on the blue skirt
“There are certain motifs and techniques that I don’t want to see disappear, and this collection is my way of keeping them alive.”
Natalia Bermeo, in Nabi Magazine
2025
Feature · Remezcla · October 2025
From Peru to Ecuador: 7 Indigenous Brands Transforming Fashion
Remezcla profiles seven Indigenous designers across the Americas who are reshaping fashion through ancestral knowledge and ethical production.
Writer Michaela Vargas Caro features Matríaca Studio for its reimagined polleras and labor-intensive knits, work rooted in the Bermeo family’s legacy of hat-weaving in the Cañari community of Azogues, Ecuador.
Read the feature“Through design I’m trying to recover those concepts and connect it to how continuity can be represented without boxing us in.”
Natalia Bermeo
2024
Residency · Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Indigenous Haute Couture at Banff Centre
In March 2024, Natalia Bermeo joined seven other textile-based Indigenous artists in the Rocky Mountains for a residency built around a single idea: Indigenous fashion is art.
At the Indigenous Haute Couture – Digital Embellishments residency, Natalia’s work centred on her Indigenous Ecuadorian identity and on how colonial institutions shaped her family’s path as migrants.
She worked with llama yarn, an ancient Andean fibre pushed out by colonization and the introduction of sheep, and dyed it with cochineal (cochinilla) to a light pink.
“I take the creative route and think of knitwear as sculptural and malleable. Wool knits can be knitted into soft, delicate fabrics or felted into structured protective garments.”
Natalia Bermeo, for Banff Centre
- Where
- Banff, Alberta
- When
- March 2024
- Press
- Rocky Mountain Outlook
Video · Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity · June 2024
Open Studio: Knitwear Designer & Textile Artist Natalia Bermeo
“I enjoy using natural fibers and reconnecting the natural materials of the Andean landscape. My biggest aspiration is to learn how to weave Panama hats like my grandmothers did before me. This art was something that was lost in two generations due to the displacement of my family.”
Natalia Bermeo
2023
FIT Future of Fashion · May 2023
Líneas Poéticas at FIT’s Future of Fashion
Natalia Bermeo presented Líneas Poéticas, her senior thesis collection, at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Future of Fashion show. The pieces now live in the Matríaca Studio archive.
Award2023 Macy’s Bold Representation Award: Best Culturally Inspired Look
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