A new fashion trend has been spreading throughout the female students at the University of Oklahoma, and it's for a good cause! Many girls on OU's campus have been sporting beaded bracelets hand crafted by women from the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Purchasing these bracelets helps to improve the quality of life for the women in Nepal.
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| Beaded Bracelets hand made from women of Nepal. |
Eco Fashion Design's bracelets are part of the worldwide free trade program. Its focus "is to pay fair trade wages to [their] artisans thereby improving the quality of their lives," the company says. "All beading is done in the comfort of their homes or on rooftop decks during nice weather." Making these bracelets offers these women an opportunity to make a better life for themselves.
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Women of Nepal hand-making beaded bracelets.
Photograph from ecodesignfashions.com |
"Poor women in Nepal are suffering, exploited and demotivated. Their lives are full of pain and sorrow despite trying their best.
Fair Trade has helped women raise their voices," Padmasana Shakya of Manushi said.
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Each bracelet comes with a card signed by the Indian woman
who hand-crafted the bracelet. |
This cause has received an overwhelming amount of support from OU students. "They are the biggest craze," Lucca store manager, Meghan Bedner said. "The [bracelets] we have now are sewn in sorority colors." According to Bedner, students are purchasing these bracelets because they are so popular on campus. Many people are not even aware that they are supporting the free trade program in Nepal.
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A female student at the University of Oklahoma wearing
Eco Fashion Design's beaded bracelets. |
The beaded bracelets can be purchased at Lucca or Antique Garden at Campus Corner for $15, or at Cayman's off of Main St. for $12.50. For more information on ordering these bracelets visit the Eco Design Fashions website. To learn more about the free trade program visit the Women In Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing website.
Audio Interview with Lucca Manager, Meghan Bedner:
Very nice bracelets. We are a wholesaler of such bracelets in Kathmandu. Please visit our site http://www.ahanacraft.com
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Shyam
Thank you Kelly! We have changed our name from Ecodesign Fashions to Lily and Laura Bracelets. www.lilyandlaura.com. Lucca and Antique Garden still carry our bracelets as well as many other shops across the country. Please feel free to check out our facebook page to watch a video of how the bracelets are made and to see many pictures of our women making them and their finished works or art! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lily-and-Laura/170733712970741
ReplyDeleteThe tradition and artistry of Nepali glass beads met Western fashion and flair when fair trade began working with skilled Nepali women artisans. Although artists and craftswomen in their own rights, financial sustainability still did not exist for these women, their families or their communities, in spite of jewelry making being a viable industry. Recent political changes have created a new way of doing business for the women of Nepal; one in which they are paid well above market rate for their goods, giving them much needed income to provide for their families. Additionally, there is a new sense of pride and prestige is being able to earn a living wage, ultimately elevating the greater region’s standards of living.
ReplyDeleteNepali women have worn and created glass bead jewelry for centuries but there was an increase in the number of jewelry artists during the 1950’s, when thousands fled from Tibet to Nepal during the assumption of power over Tibet by China. Never returning to Tibet, the families and descendants of those families continue to live and work in Nepal, carrying on the craft of jewelry making and design.