The Founder
Mayka, The Founder
While Adair healed through art, I was searching for my own path. Life took me on roads I never could have imagined — each one a challenge, each one a teacher. I have always needed to work with passion; every job I ever took, I took because I loved it. When the idea of building a brand first came to me, it took real courage to believe that was possible for me. The ordinary world didn't seem to have a place for me. So I decided to build one.
Making that decision, I began to reconnect to my childhood — and to remember. My memory isn't always kind to me; trauma has its own way of taking things. But I remembered this: as a little girl, I was already drawing clothes, making up stories about them for my little sister — who has always been my light. That child never stopped creating. Reconnecting to her gave me everything.
Saudade was born from that necessity — and from something ancient. Clothing, to me, is not just fabric. It is a vessel. My signature piece, a kimono robe designed as an energy protector cape, draws from Andean wisdom and the Chakana — the sacred cross of the Inca, representing the three worlds: the upper, the inner, and the outer. A reminder that we are made of energy, that we are connected, and that we can always choose to elevate.
Saudade — the word itself — has no direct translation. It is the deep longing for meaningful connection, the energy that bridges the distance between hearts. It can be nostalgia, love, even heartbreak — always profound, always expanding. It is the aspiration for genuine connection with ourselves, with nature, with the universe. That is what this brand is built on. Not a trend. A feeling that has always existed, finally given a home.
Caring for the ones I love has always been at the centre of who I am. Every decision I have made points toward the same dream — and that dream has grown far beyond a fashion brand. It is today the Saudade project.
“If you're reading this, you're already part of it.”
