Beneath the color-soaked surfaces of Marisol Centeno’s contemporary textiles lie myriad questions — from design’s role in contemporary society to how it can be a tool for change. Centeno, a textile designer based in Mexico City, has long been creatively fueled by an interest in exploring the stories, processes, and rituals embedded within everyday textiles. A desire for design to leave a positive imprint on society led her to spend a year with the artisan Zapotec community in Oaxaca, resulting in the launch 2012 of Bi Yuu (Air and Earth). The atelier produces handmade rugs and home textiles, many with sunbursts of color and joyful motifs.

Centeno’s creative explorations — and questioning — deepened in 2016 with the opening of Estudio Marisol Centeno in Mexico City, a space she views as a “laboratory” for textile experimentation. The studio has undertaken a raft of localized collaborations with high-profile brands, from hole-punched textile street installations for Adidas to elegantly woven vegetable fiber and metallic thread panels inspired by pre-Hispanic dancer headdresses for Cartier’s Mexico City flagship.

Designed for life: The world´s best product designers - Danielle Demetriou. Phaidon

The studio

Founded in 2016, Estudio Marisol Centeno blends textile and product design, embracing social and multicultural values as the studio's core principles. Marisol´s mission is to design with the desire to leave a positive impact on society.

At the studio, we continually question and evolve our work processes, reconstructing our methodology to meet the ever-changing needs of real people and ecosystems. Driven by curiosity, we delve into and deepen handmade processes, which form an integral part of our design practice. This approach allows us to imbue each object with a sense of grounding and history. The exploration of color plays an essential role in our perception of beauty.

Centeno works on both self-initiated and commissioned projects from her studio in Mexico City.

Selected exhibitions and talks:

  • 2025 Siempre si, salón de exhibición. Collective show.

  • 2024 Carpet Diem, Paris.

  • 2024 DECODE Group Show. MARCO, Monterrey, Mexico

  • 2024 OMET design gallery. Collective show

  • 2023 Hilando Rituales. 10 Años de Bi Yuu. Solo exhibition. Museo Franz Mayer.

    This Exhibition celebrates a decade of Bi Yuu’s commitment to textile experimentation, social innovation, and cultural dialogue. Founded in 2012 by Marisol Centeno, the atelier bridges design, folk art, and industry, collaborating with weaving communities in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, and Bhadohi, India, to create environmentally and socially responsible pieces that honor Mexico’s multiculturalism through color and craft. The exhibition highlights Bi Yuu’s most iconic collections, featuring a multimedia installation and a collaborative space that reveals the human stories woven into each piece.

  • 2023 Diseño en femenino. México 1940-2022. Museo Franz Mayer.

  • 2022 Una modernidad hecha a mano. Mexican design 1952-2022. MUAC, UNAM.

  • 2022 Disonancia Mexicana, by De la O design studio. Franz Mayer Museum.

  • 2021 Nature by Design.Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

  • 2019 We Design, Design Museum Everywhere/ Design Museum Foundation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design campus.

  • 2018 Dubai Design Week. Abierto Mexicano de Diseño.

  • 2017 Hilos y Entramados. Secretaria de Cultura.

  • 2016 Viaje al Hilo. Solo exhibition. Museo de las Américas. Denver, USA. Espacio México. Embassy of Mexico Montreal, Canada.

  • 2016 Zona Maco México Arte Contemporáneo. Bi Yuu solo exhibition.

  • 2015 Woman in Design. Museo Tamayo and Design week Mexico.

  • 2014 Galería Mexicana de Diseño. Mexican designers.

Conferences, Lectures & Workshops

  • 2024 - 21st International Congress “Designing for Humanity” by Universidad Anahuac. Round-table conferences by Don Norman, Eduardo Danilo, and Centeno.

  • 2024 - Collectible Mexican Design. Unique Design X Mexico City.

  • 2023 - Multiculturalism and Contemporary Design in Mexico. Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City. Moderator Cristina L. De León.

  • 2020-22 –Professor for the Textile Design module in the Architectural Digest Course at Condé Nast College.

  • 2022 – Speaker at the “Social Practices in Design” seminar for the Global Fashion Management Master’s program at Centro and FIT, NY.

  • 2018 – Craft in California and Mexico: New Roles in Contemporary Culture – LACMA, Los Angeles, USA

  • 2017 – Strengthening the work of textile artisans through innovative work models. Think Tank Meeting. Goethe Institute, Germany, Mexico

  • 2016 –Collaborative Practice and Design in Mexico – Massachusetts College of Art and Design campus, Boston, USA

  • 2016 – Collaborative Practice, Bi Yuu – Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO)

  • 2016 – Congreso Internacional: Diseñar para la Humanidad – Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City

  • 2014 – Collaborative Design – Centro de las Artes, San Agustín Oaxaca, Mexico

  • 2014 – Social Design – Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City

Selected awards and publications:

  • 2025 Nominee for Object of the Year at The Gorrita Azul, Mexico’s Contemporary Art Award.

  • 2024 Shortlist Dezeen Awards. Category: Textile design. Project: Contemplari by Bi Yuu.

  • 2024 Designed for Life: The World’s Best Product Designers, Phaidon Editors.

  • 2023 Designer of the Year. What Design Can Do, Mexico Edition

  • 2023 Creative woman of the year. Architectural Digest México Latinoamérica.

  • 2023 Icono del diseño. Architectural Digest México Latinoamérica.

  • 2021 AD100.

  • 2018 Women we love. Quién Magazine, Mexico.

  • 2017 Best Handmade Textile Design. Casaviva Magazine, Mexico.

  • 2013 Impact social entrepreneur recognition. Organization: Possible & Televisa Foundation. Project: Bi Yuu

    Grants

    • 2017 – 2018 – Jóvenes Creadores – FONCA, Secretariat of Culture of Mexico

    Museum’s Permanent Collections, commissions: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. MUAC, The Contemporary Art Museum, Mexico City.

    Selected Clients:

    Cartier, Ikea, Nike, Adidas, H&M, Legorreta + Legorreta, Tatiana Bilbao, Johnston Marklee, Gensler, Grupo Olvera, Hotel Esencia, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Citibanamex, Fórmula 1.

    Selected Press:

    Dezeen, Wallpaper, Designboom, The New York Times, Cover Magazine, Living, Stir World, Interior Design Magazine, AD.