En Español
If your eye caught the woven strands of pink and orange yarn or the familiar triangular patterns, you might think you were in the mountains of Colombia or the beaches of Mexico. However, even if you had never left Illinois, these pieces of wearable art would still be within hands reach.
Kilk is a company dedicated to promoting the work of South American artisans and bringing Latinx culture to Chicago. It sells bags, earrings, blankets, and more that represent Latin American art. However, like any passion project, this business began with an idea.
Lorena Vargas, a Mexican woman living in Chicago, started her company, Kilk, after traveling through 37 different countries.
Just two months ago, Vargas was still working full-time, reminiscing about her travels over the past two years. Vargas explained that she hadn’t traveled hoping to start a company. Instead, she found inspiration from the people she met on her travels around the world.

“You meet these artisans, you meet their families, you see their homes, you see how they work, and you see how they live. The skills to make these products have been passed down from generation to generation,” Vargas explained.
While pointing to a multicolored flowered bag she added, “There are generations of passion in these works.”
Vargas has been promoting Kilk through multiple pop-ups, including the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Expo. According to Vargas, Chicago’s Latino community loves being able to carry their culture in the form of bags or clothing.
Vargas stresses the importance of understanding that Latin America is made up of multiple countries with completely different cultures. She wants her company to reflect the beauty of those differences.
According to the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Chicago has the fifth largest concentration of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States.
Vargas and other Latinos in Chicago, are integrating their culture into the framework of the city and its people, one bag at a time.

Gabriela Hamburger Medailleu is an International Studies and Journalism student at Northwestern University, working towards a career in photo and video journalism. She has worked as a videographer for Chicago’s non-profit FORA, and has produced stories for Northwestern News Network. She is originally from Massachusetts, and her family is from Cali, Colombia. Her work has a lens of social justice, grassroots activism, and community perspectives.
Publisher’s Notes: This story, among others, was produced by undergraduate students in the bilingual reporting class at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications.
Led by Prof. Mei-Ling Hopgood, the class aims to help journalism students practice sensitive and ethical engagement and reporting with multicultural communities in Spanish and English. Students visited the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Business Expo at Navy Pier last fall and interviewed local business owners.