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Los Mirlos Bring Amazonian Sound and Style to Coachella Through Collaboration With Kene Kaya

When the legendary psychedelic cumbia band Los Mirlos took the stage at Coachella this past year, the moment represented far more than a musical milestone. For us at Kene Kaya, it was a powerful affirmation of what can happen when music, fashion, and ancestral knowledge come together with respect and intention.

Representing Peru on one of the world’s most influential festival stages, Los Mirlos carried the sound of the Amazon to a global audience. Alongside their unmistakable rhythms, they also carried our garments—custom-made stage outfits created in close collaboration with the band and with the artisans whose traditions inspire everything we do.

Los Mirlos have long been cultural ambassadors of Peru’s Amazon region. Their music, rooted in cumbia amazónica, has crossed generations and borders while remaining deeply connected to place. From the beginning, our goal was to translate that same spirit into a visual language—one that honored Indigenous Amazonian aesthetics while adapting them for a contemporary performance context.

Working closely with the band, we designed pieces that incorporated ancestral Amazonian visual codes, expressed through bold color palettes, intricate patterns, and silhouettes that could move effortlessly onstage. Every element of the garments was created with intention: to echo rhythm, celebrate identity, and reflect the living culture behind the music.

At the heart of this collaboration are the artisans whose hands and knowledge brought the designs to life. Many come from communities where textile traditions are passed down through generations. Their work is not simply decorative—it carries memory, storytelling, and a profound relationship to land and ancestry. Through hand-drawn motifs, detailed embroidery, and meticulous craftsmanship, each garment became a living expression of culture rather than a costume.

For Kene Kaya, this collaboration is a direct extension of our mission. We believe in ethical fashion rooted in collaboration, not extraction. Indigenous artisans are not background labor in our process; they are co-creators and authors of the final pieces. Seeing their work represented on an international stage like Coachella affirms the importance of visibility, fair representation, and respect within global fashion spaces.

Watching Los Mirlos perform at Coachella dressed in these garments was deeply symbolic. On a stage often defined by Western fashion houses and mainstream aesthetics, their presence asserted that Amazonian and Indigenous design belongs at the center of global culture. It was a reminder that Peruvian creativity—both musical and textile—has always been innovative, influential, and globally relevant.

As Los Mirlos’ melodies echoed across the desert, the garments told a parallel story: one of intergenerational collaboration, pride in identity, and continuity of ancestral knowledge. Together with the band and the artisans behind each piece, we were honored to help transform this performance into a moment of representation—where music, fashion, and tradition stood side by side, unmistakably Peruvian and undeniably powerful.