OUR STORY
Ornelas by Xbaal is a family-owned resortwear brand founded in Cancún, Mexico, over 30 years ago by Lourdes, the family’s matriarch. After a natural disaster struck the region, she created the brand as a way to uplift women in her community—offering free sewing workshops and job opportunities to those in need.
Lourdes, who remains at the heart of the brand, was later joined by her daughter Roxanna and granddaughter Eugenia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, they brought a renewed vision while staying true to the brand’s original mission: supporting Mexican artisans, preserving traditional craftsmanship, and creating clothing with purpose.
OUR FABRIC
Our fabric is artisanally made from 100% Mexican cotton, crafted thread by thread on a rustic machine. Each piece requires the careful placement of up to 2,000 threads, with the thread count determining the final weight and texture—fewer threads for a lighter weave, more for a thicker one. Once the cloth is finished, we apply a softening treatment to ensure it feels comfortable on the skin. Only then is it dyed by hand in small batches, allowing each color to develop its own depth and character. No two pieces are ever exactly alike—each garment carries the soul of Mexican craftsmanship, from the first thread to the final tone.
233,000 LIVES IMPACTED
76,000 WOMEN EMPOWERED
100% MEXICAN COTTON
OUR DYEING PROCESS
Color, for us, is not applied—it is developed.
Each garment is dyed entirely by hand, in small, carefully controlled batches. The process begins long before the color is even introduced. Every piece is first soaked for hours, allowing the fibers to fully open and prepare to receive the dye.
Only once the garments are ready do we begin the dyeing process. Large pots of water are brought to a boil. Salt is added—not as a detail, but as an essential step to bind the pigment to the fabric.
The pigment is first dissolved in water, then poured into the boiling pot and slowly blended in, merging with the heat, the salt, and the movement of the water until the color fully develops.
Each batch is intentionally small. Between 7 to 9 pieces at a time—no more. This allows every garment the space it needs to absorb the color properly, but it also means that no two batches will ever be identical.
Once submerged, the garments are continuously moved by hand. This moment is critical. The fabric is watched closely, second by second, as the color develops in real time. Even a few seconds longer or shorter in the dye can shift the final shade—making each piece subtly, and sometimes noticeably, different from the next.
After reaching the desired tone, each garment is removed and rinsed in cold water to set the color. It is then placed in a dryer, completing the process while preserving the integrity of the fabric and its final shade.
Nothing about this process is automated. Nothing is exact. And that is precisely the point.
Every variation in tone, every slight difference in color, is a reflection of the human hands behind it—of a process that values individuality over uniformity.
No two pieces are ever the same. And they were never meant to be.