THE LIMITED EDITION YARIKAZU X MABI SWIMWEAR IS THE PERFECT AND SIGNIFICANT UNION – A CUSTOMIZED COLLECTION IN WHICH EACH PIECE IS A UNIQUE WORK OF ART.
The MABI Swimwear brand, already known for its slogan SUSTAINABLE IS SEXY, launches a limited collection of hand-painted swimsuits for this summer in collaboration with indigenous activist Yarikazu Xipaya. Mabi Swimwear swimsuits are revealed as a canvas where indigenous painting art contributes both to the beauty of each unique piece and to the brand’s ongoing work to bring awareness to the protection of the Amazon Rainforest and its people.
For a few seasons, the brand has supported Aldeia Waninawa with fundraising support through its sustainability page. In this collection, the total profit will go towards helping Yarikazu’s ability to continue her higher education at the Law School, providing her with tools for her battle in a war fighting for the defense of the culture and preservation of the traditions of indigenous peoples and Yanomami village, Yarikazu home.
Using education as a weapon, Yarikazu attends the final year of Law School in Belém, a city 18 hours away by bus from her village. She studies to promote the development of her village, reverse environmental and political decisions, preserve ancestral traditions, and defend humanitarian and ecological causes. She makes paintings with sustainable materials to raise funds to complete her studies and to form the Association for the Defense of indigenous peoples for a better world that respects nature and the rights of these peoples.
“I only feel good, protected when I am painted; it is a way of always staying connected to my past, I feel protected by my ancestors, and it is a way of saying that there are indigenous peoples in various spaces that we are not the “Indian” in society’s view, that we do not have that standard, that we are diverse and plural. Indigenous people do not have a color; to be indigenous, you do not need straight hair”, affirms Yarikazu.
At MABI Swimwear, they take the matter into their own hands. With Amazon at the heart of our sustainable mission: partnering with indigenous peoples offers one of the most socially responsible and highest-leverage opportunities to address the major drivers that impact the Amazon Rainforest. Deforestation has devastating impacts on biodiversity, food security, and global heating. Better protection, expansion, and improved management of the world’s forests are considered by many experts as among the most promising nature-based solutions. In this regard, the oft-repeated idea that indigenous peoples are the “guardians of the forest” is not trivial.
