We are so excited to introduce to you one of our best and most sparkly friends, Amira Marion of Archive New York (best and most colorful textiles in the game!)!
Fun fact, Ilana L & Amira actually grew up together and that is how Ilana K & Ilana L met. :) So she is a dear soul to quite a few of us in the IK office.
Tell us a little bit about yourself & Archive NY.
My name is Amira and I have a home textile company, Archive NY. I work with artisans mostly in Guatemala (some in Mexico and India too) to make pillows, rugs, blankets, and towels. My passion is to find antique or rare textiles that speak to me aesthetically, then try to remake them in the village where they originated. It can be hard because many villages aren’t weaving anymore. Sometimes you just need to find that one person left who can do it. The goal is to keep the different weaving traditions going, especially ones that are dying out.
I love to travel and starting this company was sort of an excuse to get on a plane more frequently. If you haven’t been to Guatemala it really is a beautiful place to visit. It’s colorful, vibrant and the people are so warm. I go a couple times a year at least, half for work and half because I just love being there.
You travel a lot for Archive NY, what are your top 3 travel tips you'd like to share?
I’m always trying to refine my travel to be the most comfortable possible. Firstly, I always travel with a lightweight cotton bathrobe and some slip-on shoes for wearing around the hotel/Airbnb/friend’s house. I love the ones by Turkish T. Secondly, always travel with a backup portable iPhone battery charger and a headphone splitter (which comes in handy when you’re flight is delayed and you kill some time and watch a movie with a friend on your computer or phone). Lastly, I discovered these Samsonite tote-a-ton duffle bags on Amazon. They weight next to nothing and you can fold them up super tiny. They are as spacious as a big suitcase so you can bring back tons and tons textiles from wherever you’re visiting.
You recently relocated from NYC to LA, how's that been going for ya?
So far so good! As much as I love New York (still my favorite city!) it’s nice to be somewhere that has a slower pace. It really is super chill here. The most exciting thing for me here so far has been the ability to hop in the car and take a mini-excursion. Since everything is new to us, even spending a day in another local neighborhood like Venice or Atwater Village feels like a mini-vacation. So far we’ve been able to get out of town to check out Big Sur, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Simeon, Pioneertown/Joshua Tree to name a few - and in just a couple weeks we’re going to Palm Springs with you, Ilana, which we are super stoked for!
What do you miss about NYC (Is it the Ilana Kohn team?)?
PIZZA! Ok but yes for real, I miss the IK team so much! I’m just glad you guys come out to LA a few times a year for work or I wouldn’t be able to bear it at all! And I do miss all of my other friends in NYC, too. I moved there when I was 18 so I’ve been collecting many over the years. I also miss Emmy [squared], Difara, Joe, Roberta[‘s].. Those are not people but pizza. Really, the pizza in LA just isn’t like NYC, but everyone knows that. And not to be like “the weather in LA is too good” but I miss those spring and summer days in NYC, where you wake up, check the weather app and you see it’s going to be perfect, so everyone is outside and happy, grabbing drinks, finding rooftop bars, walking around the city. Here no one is walking, but hey, it’s always nice outside.