"In both places, we were all like a family, there was a lot of respect as well as creativity."

small-shops: After studying fashion design in your home country Peru. You decided to move to Copenhagen. There, you did Internships at Henrik Vibskov and at Freya Dalsjø. What are some of the major values you learned during those experiences?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: In both places, we were all like a family, there was a lot of respect as well as creativity. I think it was one of the places where I learned to exploit my creativity without fear, the team gave me that confidence, positivity and freedom. They were not the typical fashion studios. The working hours were valued in the companies (I think this is a Danish thing) among other things. I feel there was no stress, or I didn't see it, even 1 day before the Paris fashion show. There was kind of a feeling in the air that everything looked relaxed and cool.

small-shops: In 2015 you moved to Berlin. One year later you founded Maqu. This was a brave step. How did you experience this founding period in a, for you, completely new city?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: I have to admit that at that time I was just following my instinct, now I think a lot about it and I say "oh krass". One of my motivations was to learn German and develop myself in another culture than my own, which is not so easy even if it seems so. It has taken me a while to assimilate certain things, besides when I arrived I didn't know anyone, I had no idea how the system worked here. I only had the desire to develop my brand and have my shop, it has not been easy, we are still a very small company with a big vision.

small-shops: Can you share how you were able to solve some of the initial problems you faced?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: The good thing is that I learned German very quickly, haha, and my partner in crime is from Berlin, and he is the other half of Maqu. I have to be thankful because I feel very integrated with the city and to be honest I still have a lot of things to improve, a good point for me is that I have done so many designs and mistakes that now I can focus on the best part of Maqu.

small-shops: You manage to produce fashion in a very sustainable way, by using only natural fabrics and by upcycling old pieces and materials. Moreover, your packaging is plastic free, your store is run exclusively on Greenpeace Energy and you keep on improving those high standards. Are costumers requesting this standard or does this put you into difficulties by raising the price of production?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: Everything mentioned above is something that had to be because that is how Maqu lives, not only the brand is sustainable, we as humans do everything we can to live in the better way to keep the balance. Maqu has to be accessible and affordable, we can say that sometimes it is difficult of course because our production is very small and sometimes it puts us in trouble, but it always has solutions.

small-shops: Can you explain a little bit where you get your materials from and how you choose them?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: 60% of the fabrics, mostly organic cotton and the sustainable Tencel we buy from a german company that produces with partners througout Europe - all certified.

30% comes from our partners in Peru, where we get the alpaca and organic pima cotton. The last 10% are leftovers either in Peru or from a company in Italy, even from gifts from neighbours or friends.

For some time now we have been extending the colour palette, but it all depends on the collection to be worked, you can also find unique pieces made of the remains from old collections. We use everything.

small-shops: How did you experience the two Corona Lockdowns?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: For the first lockdown we were developing the Live Lines collection for Helsinki Fashion Week, which in the end was presented in a digital show with avatars. It was a fantastic vision of the future, but fashion is so much more exciting analog and live, and the feel is always especially important to us.

And now I’m still going to my studio, although the opening hours have changed because the shop is closed but we are still online for customers + you can call, click & collect.

It has been a time of much more work and with more questions, questioning everything and the best I have more time to read.

small-shops: What do you hope fashion to be in 20 years?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: I hope there will be better work conditions and no compromises with sustainability in the fashion Industry (big companies, press, etc). It will be fantastic Zero Fast Fashion in the future.

small-shops: If you could change one little thing in the world, what would it be?

Marisa Fuentes Prado: I find this very difficult, because I don’t know how to identify little things and I have several ideas in my head, but I wish more plants! More green please!