Verónica Santamaría’s work takes its pulse from the heart of the jungle, where time tangles with roots and rivers sing prayers to the wind. There, the Daughter of the Snake awakens—a spiritual being who moves through the designer’s consciousness as a guide and symbol of transformation.

This six-look collection is a fully handmade body of work, crafted by Santamaría using only natural fibres and manual techniques. From gathering raw materials in the Amazon rainforest to final stitching in Florence, the process reflects care, precision, ecological intimacy, and deep cultural awareness. It acknowledges the anthropological and symbolic nature of the materials—the spiritual power of colour, and respect for the fibres that grow in the lungs of the planet.

More than 72 cones of thread were naturally dyed with a botanical palette of cochineal, madder root, annatto, and logwood. Over 15 metres of fabric were woven on a manual dobby loom, combining Colombian silk and cotton, hand-twisted chambira fibre, yanchama bark cloth, and linen. Silk yarns were hand-spun using a traditional peti charkha from India.

Geometric pattern-cutting inspired by Indigenous shapes reduced waste to under 5%, while several garments were shaped directly on the knitting machine using fully fashioned techniques. The collection features macramé, hand embroidery, knitwear, and complex manual weaving—with no synthetic fibres or dyes.

The result is a sculptural, alchemical body of work that embodies transformation. Each piece—whether a seed-fringed skirt or a knitted Colombian bean—is a radical act of reverence, a prayer for craft, nature, and ancestral knowledge. Through these garments, Santamaría invites us to see design as a sacred rite of gratitude to the Earth, to the community, and to life itself.

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