Like many indigenous art forms, fewer young people are learning how to weave, and the craft is in danger of losing its place in Andean culture. By finding new uses for mantas that increase the market and appreciation for these crafts more artisans are encouraged to continue the tradition. Today, exquisite vintage and contemporary woven mantas can be found as accents in leather bags, tailored jackets, and as culturally rich examples of indigenous art independent of their enduring practical use.

Over his years of apprenticeship in this family-run leather workshop, Julio learned and mastered leather techniques, and learned Spanish in anticipation of one day opening his own shop in La Paz. Over the years, his brothers, sisters, and cousins joined him in the city, each learning leatherwork and coming to specialize in a product or technique such as tooling and stitching, or producing wallets and belts. Each of the Patzi family members who have come to the city now run their own small studios in El Alto and the villas just outside of town. As a result, Julio's nieces and nephews and the children of his extended family back home have all been able to attend and finish school.

Maintaining a connection to his country home and Quechua roots is important to Julio, and one of the ways he does that is by incorporating textiles into his work. Quechua and Aymara women produce woolen textiles using handlooms that they call mantas or awayos--geometric-patterned fabrics used as ponchos, shawls, infant slings, blankets, and more. Women often gather the wool from their own animals, then spin, dye, and weave the yarn themselves. Julio buys vintage and new mantas from village women and incorporates them into his bags and backpacks, guaranteeing that each product is unique and fully handmade, and also giving women in his ancestral community an additional way to make money for their families.