Braided Leather Belt by Recreo San Miguel

Long before San Miguel de Allende became the artistic, cultural and equestrian center of Mexico, it was known in the 18th and 19th centuries for its serapes, and also for the fine fabrics (“shot with gold and silver, fit for a queen,” according to a Franciscan friar writing in 1780) intended for the nobility and for ecclesiastical vestments.

In 2010, the founders of Recreo San Miguel – Lisa and Michael Coleman, who had recently moved to San Miguel – happened upon a book that described these two aspects of San Miguel’s history. They made a simple creative connection with the idea of re-creating the serape in fine fabrics and a contemporary design aesthetic.

A year and a half later, the brand’s first collection was launched in one of San Miguel’s landmark buildings – a former ruin – luxuriously renovated as the label’s flagship boutique.

"And thus, Recreo San Miguel was born, marrying these two disparate aspects of Latin American heritage (serapes and elegant fabrics) and wrapping them in a bit of high fashion. In a sense, therefore, one could say that Recreo San Miguel sprang – literally and figuratively – from the pages of history."

Since then, the collection has broadened to include not just serapes, but a wide range of wraps, vests and jackets, kaftans, skirts, blouses and more – statement pieces and essential separates – loosely inspired by historical forms, while designed to appeal to contemporary luxury consumers across the globe.