We recently connected with Ainara Calahorra Romillo and have shared our conversation below.

Ainara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I have been involved in creative activities my whole life, like in school being part of a newspaper featuring short stories, during high school in the cultural association (founded by me and one of my best friends) organizing excursions to go to musicals or expos with the other classmates, during the university acting in the theater company, and in my adulthood using watercolors as coping skills in difficult times, so being creative is too broad. Creativity is something that anyone can cultivate. And now I have transformed creativity into a way of living. This is exactly what I had to do in this new chapter of my life. MuXu was born from the necessity of offering an ethical alternative to Fast Fashion with sustainable creations that last longer. We care about you, the environment, the workers, and quality through creativity.

I am self-motivated and enthusiastic about what I do, I have been a psychologist for almost 20 years, and I loved it and worked so much that it was part of myself, my identity. But, we have to be honest with ourselves and when it is time to change, we have to face it. It was a real process and once I decided that it was time to start something different, it was a planned change. And I did it. I am proud of that process of grieving for what I was leaving, to be able to embrace what I started. And yes, in the forties it is also possible to start from scratch and still give the best of yourself with enthusiasm. MuXu is giving us a new way to live more sustainably, caring about our future, and the future of the planet, a path of creativity, and producing unique items that other people are using and enjoying.

Ainara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Ainara the founder, and maker behind MuXu Creations. MuXu Creations is a Slow Fashion brand of accessories and clothing designed and made in our studio in San Diego.

I am from Spain, and my family is from the Basque Country, influenced by the strong women in my family and an entrepreneur grandfather who reinvented himself several times until the end. I came to the US looking for research opportunities, which turned into an absolutely different story.

It has been a real personal and professional process: starting over at 40 years old, being in a different country, being a woman, and leaving behind a profession that was part of my identity.

During my student life, I had several “motley” jobs, I got my master’s degree, and after my Ph.D. in Psychology. I worked for 17 years as such, with people in great need, in complex situations, and consequently getting rewarding experiences. I witnessed the great capacity for change in humans. However, at some point in my career, I stopped feeling good and fulfilled with what I was doing. I had to be honest with myself to be able to give others what they needed from me. So, it was the seed for the beginning of MuXu: determination, honesty, and hard-working.

During the pandemic, I received a sewing machine for my birthday. I had no idea about sewing, so as I do in any other areas, I started to look for resources. I started to learn how to sew at San Diego College Continuing Education (SDCCE) in the Clothing and Textile Program, and then I enrolled in business/entrepreneur-oriented programs, such as Sewn Products Business or organizations such as SBDC, with the purpose of making the steps in the correct order. I had an internship at Sew Loka with Claudia, learning how to manage a small business as a true maker. Now, with Taylor Love, I am improving my tailoring skills, because creativity is a never-ending journey… We participated in podcasts, maker markets, and other events every year where we meet vendors and customers, who really follow our “mantra”, better together, we can support each other and grow.

But why start a Slow fashion Brand?

The impact of Fast Fashion on the planet and the people involved in its production is deeply concerning. Fast Fashion creates an overwhelming amount of waste and puts pressure on consumers to buy an unnecessary number of items every season, leading to the disposal of perfectly good garments in landfills. Fast Fashion relies on mass production at the lowest possible cost, so that price is being paid in some way, like weak labor regulations and causing terrible pollution.

We rescue fabrics: gorgeous swatches, deadstock rolls of fabric, scraps, or vintage pieces from ending in landfills, and we transform them into one-of-a-kind pieces that tell a story. We hand cut and sew from start to finish, to give you garments that last longer because of the attention to detail and the care we put in every stitch. We even started printing our original watercolors in some garments as wearable art. MuXu is dedicated to promoting a more responsible and sustainable way of producing and consuming fashion, one that respects both people and the planet.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Being an entrepreneur is a challenge for balancing life because that is something that you are 24/7, thinking about new ideas, and always wearing several hats (as a designer, maker, salesperson, website designer, social media manager, …).

So, one of the following steps for MuXu is going to hire someone for some of the activities that we could delegate, because we dream big enough to need people helping and being part of the project. But one of our secret recipes is organization and self-commitment. We have a really structured schedule to organize time for the multiple activities that we have to manage for MuXu to stay alive, for instance, Mondays and Tuesdays are for designing and sewing, part of Wednesday is for watercolors, Thursday is about education and social media, Friday is computer day, etc. This schedule is flexible enough to adjust it for other necessities such as meetings, new projects, and exploring the community to find collaborations and meet creators.

At the same time, we reserve time in the early mornings and a whole day per week just for enjoying friends, nature, reading, etc. Although for people as self-involved and enthusiastic as I am, it is challenging to take off time from your passion, like MuXu is for me. From my previous career, I learned the hard way, that we have the responsibility to prioritize time to self/family/friends every single week to avoid burnout. So yes, work-life balance is the way to stay healthy and strong in what is your passion.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Transparency and reconnecting the customer with the creation process, the product, and the maker are two of our main missions/values .
One of the most important factors we are trying to transmit with MuXu is that our customers want to be part of the solution. We have been educating our customers about what is Slow Fashion through transparency because that is part of our core values. We want to reconnect the public and customers with the creation process, the product, and the maker, it means that MuXu clients know where, how, when, and by whom the products are made. For MuXu, the educational part and the support to the community have been essential. In return, the people that are choosing us as their Slow Fashion brand tell us how much appreciate the work well done, the attention to detail, the clean finishes… For us is like giving people back the excitement about handmade, good quality, one-of-the-kind products. This new approach to buying something makes you feel happy and have peace of mind with your purchases.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.muxucreations.com/
• Instagram: @muxu.creations
• Facebook: @muxu.creations
• Pinterest: muxucreations