By Vic Kolenc
El Paso Times, Texas
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) El Paso based “Wondor” has launched a Mexican-made clothing line. Wondor co-founder Carolina Franco connected with the network of Mexican artisans through “La Mujer Obrera”, a 37-year-old, El Paso advocacy group, of which Franco is board president.
El Paso Times, Texas
El Pasoans Carolina Franco and J.W. Rogers have launched a line of women and men’s clothes and rugs made by craftswomen in native communities in Oaxaca, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Puebla, and Chihuahua, Mexico.
Their company, Wondor, formed last year, will begin selling the products June 23 on the company website, gowondor.com, and at various stores, said Franco, who is CEO of Wondor.
The products, designed by Franco and Rogers, are a mixture of traditional Mexican cultures and contemporary design.
They launched the line June 22 at the Museum of Food and Drink in New York City, and will have a private launch party June 29 at the Tabla restaurant in Downtown El Paso.
Wondor connected with the network of Mexican artisans through La Mujer Obrera, a 37-year-old, El Paso advocacy group, of which Franco, 27, is board president. She’s worked at various El Paso cultural organizations.
Rogers, 31, the grandson of the late, former El Paso Mayor Jonathan Rogers, is an entrepreneur who worked at the Museum of Food and Drink in New York, and was a cook in New York before returning to El Paso.
Wondor’s line includes colorful, hand-dyed, and hand-stitched clothing, including jorongos, or ponchos, which sell for 0; guayaberas, or shirts, which sell for 2; and wool rugs colored with natural dyes, which sell for 5 to 0, Franco said.
“Through our collaborative efforts, we help sustain the livelihoods of traditional craftswomen in Mexico while bringing distinctive products to our clients in both the U.S. and the world,” according to Wondor’s Facebook page.
