Maya and Aztec Civilizations as an Inspiration Source for Textile Printing and Clothing Design

Abstract

There are many cultural and artistic variations in ancient civilizations that gave humans a breeding ground for beauty and fashion. Among these civilizations are those that arose in Mesoamerica, including the Maya and Aztec civilizations. The purposes of this study are: 1) focusing a spotlight on the civilizations of the Aztec and Maya, putting into consideration that they developed great art and architecture; moreover, they produced woven fabrics and clothes; 2) creating a collection of textile printing designs inspired by these two civilizations using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop programs; and incorporating these print designs into apparel designs. The researcher employed a descriptive analytical approach, which involved describing and analyzing the elements and units of Maya and Aztec civilizations, along with an experimental approach to create design collections suitable for women's clothing. A questionnaire was conducted to measure the success of these proposed designs and their clothing applications by specialists. According to specialists' opinions, the questionnaire's results revealed that the average evaluation relative weights for all the textile printing designs and their related apparel designs were between high and very high acceptance degrees.