From the beggining

My cousin Jorge Adrián lives in Guadalajara. I live in New York. We're cousins, but for as long as I can remember, we've always felt more like brothers. We grew up together, through Christmases, birthday parties, and gatherings at our grandparents' house.

Since 2017, he'd had his own project called Aixia. His Instagram account, @aixia.di, is still active today. I followed what he was doing closely. I always loved his work, his talent, the quality he put into everything he made.

On November 7, 2025, I called him simply to tell him that. That what he was making was really good, and that I wished more people could see it and hold it in their hands. I asked a bit more about his plans for the future, especially for Aixia. We talked a little about his designs, the materials he was using, in pretty general terms. He already had several designs, but one caught my attention right away, a passport holder.

That design has its own story. Jorge made it during his first trip to the United States, in 2017, with his father in mind, my uncle Guillermo, who is no longer with us. He still keeps that first prototype in his workshop.

I proposed an idea to him, that his work reach beyond borders, into the hands of people we didn't know yet. He didn't hesitate.

We hung up with one simple idea: do this together.

From the beginning, we knew we didn't want to compete on price. We wanted to bring something of quality into the world, with history, with heritage, and with the kind of attention that only a small workshop can give, where every piece passes through the hands of someone who knows exactly what they're doing. We also knew that whoever bought a piece should be able to know exactly who made it.

We also decided, almost from day one, to start with just a few pieces. Not because we were short on ideas, Jorge already had several, but because we wanted to build on solid ground. Our production capacity is limited, and we're at that stage of figuring out what works, without giving any piece less care. Starting small lets us reduce risk, keep the operation simple, and find our way of working together without it turning into a mess of variants and models.

Jorge handles the design, choosing the materials, quality control, and making each piece with his own hands. I handle the part that happens outside the workshop, logistics, sales, and building the way each person can connect with the artisan behind their piece.

For now, I wanted to start here. With that phone call that started all of this. With the passport holder that began as a gift for his father, and that today is one of the pieces we're launching with.

What I haven't told you yet is how we landed on the name. That's the next story.

Thank you for walking this road with us.

Jorge Rafael