Ohio family business showcases culture at 2024 Akron Latin Festival

AKRON, Ohio — Stella Powell was born into a farm family in Peru, later moving to Brazil and learning how to transform her pride with pins and needles.

Stella Powell was born into a farm family in Peru, later moving to Brazil and learning how to transform her pride with pins and needles.

She’s now weaving family tradition and culture into each clothing piece and accessory she makes at her home in Akron.

“Whatever my mom and grandma teach me is helping me to support my family,” Powell said. “And moving to Brazil, make me understand how big is the world, and no matter where you go, you’ll have a piece of your heart and your culture with you.”

Powell said she began crafting these items after giving birth to premature twins, Lily and Rose, inspiring the business’s name, LiRo Apparel. At the time, Powell and her husband were living in Massachusetts.

“My huband buy me a lot of yarn for me to do because something for the kids, because the kids were born very premature, and I wasn’t able to touch them, wasn’t able to change their clothes.” she said.

Powell said she was going in and out of the hospital’s incubator, which left her with insufficient time to make the babies clothes. A few months, she used the material to make more than 30 knitted hats for her loved ones in Massachusetts. In 2020, she put a price tag on these products and launched LiRo Apparel with her husband. The family is still adapting to Ohio after moving two years ago to assist an ill family member in Akron who later passed.

Now, LiRo apparel is making its second appearance at the annual Akron Latin Festival, showcasing clothing articles that are hand-made with alpaca fibers from across the world, Powell said.

“I have this dress and this one is made with baby alpaca, its more soft,” she said.

The items honor her South American roots, while adding a little bit of Ohio flair, Powell said.

“We mix a part of United States— Ohio with aguayo manta,” she said. “Made in the USA with Peruvian parts, here we are.”

Her husband and LiRo co-founder, Matthew Powell, said he’s been collaborating with her since the beginning.

“We do a lot of editing and correcting and fixing each other’s work and helping just to make each other better,” he said.

The couple said the journey hasn’t always been easy, but their little ones keep LiRo going.

“They make me breathe, and I say ‘You know what, they didn’t give up, they are with me, so why I’m going to give up?’” Powell said.