Gabriela Sans

The Indigo Thread: A Personal History Woven in Blue

Gabriela Sans, a Mallorca native, channels a global tapestry of cultures and landscapes into her design practice, slow-crafting silhoettes that reflect both heritage and modernity. Today, she lives and teaches in the Deià home where her mother carried her in pregnancy – a sandstone sanctuary nestled in the Tramuntana mountains that quietly shapes her creative rhythm.

Her journey swept her from Mallorca to art schools in Madrid, San Francisco and Paris, before taking her to Japan on a grant to explore textile craft. There, she immersed herself in the ancient tradition of indigo dyeing – a transformative chapter that revealed a slower, ritualistic approach to making. What began as a new creative language became a lasting practice rooted in patience, presence, and experimentation.

Back in Deià, Gabriela wove these global threads into GAADART – a family-founded, sustainable fashion label inspired by Mallorcan material culture, including local wool and vintage drap fabrics. Each piece speaks to circularity, intentionality, and place. Through GAADART and her indigo workshops, she cultivates a space where clothing becomes narrative, and community forms through the act of making.

Learn more about Gabriela in our interview below:

Hi Gabriela, we’re so excited to begin indigo workshops with you! Could you share what first sparked your interest in this ancient craft, and how your relationship with indigo has evolved over time?

My journey with indigo began in Japan, where I discovered that words weren’t always necessary. I first heard about my Japanese teacher through a tiny ramen restaurant in the middle of the countryside, and eventually took a class at her beautiful home. She didn’t speak English, and I didn’t speak Japanese, yet through gestures and movements, we managed to communicate and create something extraordinary, with indigo itself as our translator. More than a dye, it became a ritual, a language born anew. Over time, indigo has become my anchor to the world, a color as light as the sky or as deep as the ocean, merging two worlds into one. Working with it is a dialogue between tradition and experimentation, control and chance. Each vat has its own temperament, each piece its own story. That ever-evolving relationship keeps me curious and inspired, and it’s what I hope to share with others through my workshops.

Deià has been a constant presence in your life – part refuge, part home. What does this village mean to you, and how does it shape the rhythm and atmosphere of your work?

Deià has always been my anchor, my home. A place where time seems a witness of your progress. It’s both a refuge and a source of inspiration, with its mountains as guardians protecting you, the sea to cleanse your spirit, and the light that predicts the new seasons coming. There’s a certain magic here, a rhythm that invites contemplation and creativity. Living and working in Deià has taught me to pay attention to nature, to silence and chaos, to my own instincts, and that sense of calm and simplicity is interlaced with my work.

With GAADART, your clothing label and home studio, you build both art and community. Can you tell us a little more about GAADART and the message you hope to share through your craft.

I want to tell stories of memory, place, and identity. By using repurposed materials, every piece carries the weight of time – the faded beauty of a fabric that once lived another life. By working with them, I’m honoring Mallorcan traditions while reimagining them in a contemporary language. It’s about continuity and transformation, about preserving the spirit of the island while allowing it to evolve into something new and personal.

For me, creating community is central to this evolution – making spaces where people feel free to explore, experiment, and express themselves without fear. As an artist, I’ve learned that creativity thrives when it’s shared, when ideas, mistakes, and discoveries flow between people. Through GAADART and my home studio, I want to nurture that sense of belonging, where each person brings their own story and maybe leaves with a new one. What I hope to pass on is not just a skill, but the confidence to create, the joy of working with your hands, and the understanding that art is as much about connection as it is about the final piece.

There’s a kind of ritual to working with indigo – the slow rhythm, the transformation of color. What do you love most about the process, and what do you hope participants will experience in your workshops?

What I love most about working with indigo is the sense of surrender it asks of you. It has its own rhythm, you cannot rush it. The color is alive; it transforms slowly, as if revealing its secrets one layer at a time. Each dip, each moment in the vat, feels like a small ceremony where patience meets wonder. In my workshops, I hope participants experience this same sense of presence and discovery,that they learn not only a technique but also the beauty of letting go, of allowing the material to speak. I want them to leave not just with something they’ve made, but with a feeling, memory of stillness, creativity, and connection.

You’ve lived and worked in places as diverse as Madrid, Paris, San Francisco, Japan and now Mallorca. How have these shifts in landscape and culture influenced the way you create?

Each place I’ve lived has offered me a unique perspective. In Madrid, I discovered the power of design and gained clarity about what I didn’t want in life. In Paris, I absorbed a sense of aesthetics, fell in love with museums, and learned to say yes to opportunities, many of which led to truly magical nights. In San Francisco, I found the true meaning of community and deepened my connection to my art. In Japan, I discovered who I really was and found my voice. And here in Mallorca, where I was born and raised, I’ve gathered all those adventures and transformed them into something tangible, reconnecting with my roots while reinventing myself.