Letting serendipity lead to a weaving village in Laos

Guest blogger Mary Louise Marino is a startup social entrepreneur and founder of Indigo Lion Artisan Boutique. Her three-month journey across Southeast Asia and Northeast India is in part to connect with artisan groups, learn about their work, and begin selecting her initial collection for her shop. Serendipity connected her with village weavers in Thabou […]

Ethically sourced and elegant!

  Ethically sourced and elegant! by theartesangateway featuring a cotton bag Cotton bag $145 – peopletree.co.uk Naomi Leather Purse by Connected in Hope connectedinhope.org Songa Designs International | Zaza Necklace songadesigns.com

2016 DECOR TRENDS

As we continue to launch into 2016, it is good to be reminded of some of the trends in home decor for the season and the year ahead. A recent article in Hearts & Mermaids, points to “6 Must Try Decor Trends” for consumers. This is a great way for our designers in the craft […]

The Fashion Industry & Sustainability

With our minds and attention still very much focused on “sustainability”, we were pleasantly surprised to see a sign at a well known high street retailer, announcing that they “…believe in forever fashion…” as opposed to “fast fashion”. This implies that they believe their products are built to last, so to speak, but as we […]

The potential of migrants and ethical fashion

Simone Cipriani, Head and founder of the International Trade Center’s Ethical Fashion Initiative recently shared his thoughts and experiences about the potential of migrants working in Ethical Fashion in an article on Huffington Post. Through his vast experience working in the sector to create market frameworks for micro producers in Africa, Cipriani provides great insight […]

The start of many beautiful conversations

by guest blogger Mary Louise Marino Artesan Gateway friend and supporter Mary Louise Marino has recently embarked on a three month journey in Asia, in part to enable the launch of Indigo Lion Artisan Boutique. We are delighted to share her reflections at the start of this journey. In these past two weeks, still at […]

Pantone Colour for 2016

For those who haven’t already heard, Pantone has chosen two colours to represent their colour of the year for 2016: Serenity and Rose Quartz. Design Milk provides us with a bit of background behind what these blend of colours evoke and provide some great examples of these colour combinations  in action.   With Spring already […]

Home Decor Trends for 2016

As we know, with home decor, it’s all about adding accents and personalized touches to make a space feel unique or special. A big part of this is visualizing the space and getting a sense of what consumers might like to fill their homes with. These home decor trends as listed on the Apartment Therapy, […]

National Association for Indian Crafts

Jaya Jaitly, founder of  Dastkari Haat Samiti, a national association for Indian crafts, has spent her career working with Indian craftsmen throughout the subcontinent, empowering the disenfranchised to develop a sustainable livelihood through crafts. In a recent interview on Yourstory.com, Jaya talks about the path that led her to the career that has, in many […]

Indigenous African Design

With a continent as diverse and vast as Africa, it’s terrific to see African designers using traditional designs and embracing the new to create unique, indigenous designs. To get a sense of what’s happening on the continent check out this terrific article: A New Generation Of African Artists Have A Bold Vision For The Future. Look […]