CUATA is a Mexican contemporary jewelry brand founded in 2014 by twin artists and designers Isabel and Elena Moncada. Its name, the feminine form of "cuate" (a Mexican word for twins) reflects the origin of their creative language: two opposing yet complementary personalities that find balance in their differences.
With more than three decades of combined experience in jewelry, metalsmithing, lighting, and design, they work from an independent studio where every piece is designed and made by hand. Their practice brings together art, performance, visual storytelling, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
CUATA creates objects for the body that exist between ornament and ritual. Through material, the maker’s gesture, and memory, it transforms jewelry into a form of presence: intimate sculptures conceived to be inhabited, worn, and remembered.
“We are interested in approaching jewelry as a sensory language. We do not think of our pieces solely as decorative objects, but as bodies imbued with presence, intention, and meaning, which makes them more than mere accessories: they are objects designed to inhabit the body, situated between jewelry, sculpture, and talisman.”
The brand has established a strong identity within Mexico’s contemporary design scene, bringing together art, jewelry, performance, visual storytelling, and interdisciplinary collaboration. CUATA occupies a space where design, art, and craft meet.
CUATA has exhibited in galleries and museums in major cities worldwide, including London, Paris, Madrid, and Mexico City. They have participated in fashion shows with renowned Mexican designers such as Carla Fernández, who invited them to take part in her performances “Fashion in Motion” at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2018 and “Manifiesto” at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2022. They have also taken part in runway shows by fashion designers Julia y Renata at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFWMX) in 2019 and Volvo Fashion Week (VBFWMX) in 2026. In 2023, they participated in the group exhibition “Rostros Insumisos” at the contemporary jewelry festival “Parcours Bijoux,” and this year they are taking part in the festival once again, in the group exhibition “GA’ AYÚ GUENDA” at the Mexican Cultural Institute.