Leather Craftsmanship from Colombia

We drive into the thick of downtown traffic at rush hour in Medellin, Colombia, where 2 million people are starting work, negotiate a parking space, walk the busy pedestrian sidewalks and head up a guarded elevator to find Andrea and Catalina.

Effervescent Catalina welcomes us; dark, mysterious Andrea later emerges from her atelier.  These two sisters have inherited their mother's lifetime efforts in design and made of it their own creation.  Recycling hides from the Mexican food industry, Andrea has explored every manner of of braid, tuck, rip, slit, sew, pucker, hammer and pleat on leather until something astonishing is born.

We climb the stairs to a sunny studio above where women are cutting, braiding, pounding and finishing; each piece a unique creation. And then I see The Vest.  

I think of how often you tell me that you love a vest.  I think of how I used to wear vestments, in another life, another line of work; and how I want to offer women garments, vestments, that allow their lives to feel powerful, centered, sane.  This is it.  A vest that becomes a vestment.  And made by women in whom we might rightfully in-vest.

From that fruitful moment back in May, I am pleased to present to you The Vest, transforming on both women and men, in multiple earthy colors and two lengths. It's an investment, yes.  A lifelong investment in artisanal beauty, strong sisterhood, and in the constant, deserving work of women.
 
All the Best,
Susan Hull Walker