Nepal , Mongolia, Vietnam, Guatemala.  These are all places where they still take part in trades that we left behind long ago.  Although the people in these places make their creations out of necessity, they put a lot of care into their work.  They have a genuine love of the crafts that they have perfected.  But just like us, they also want to own ipods and enjoy comforts of daily life.  And just like them, we also admire the hand made treasures they create.  Their work reminds us of a time when these skills were common… a time when fine things were not only made by artists.  In every home there was probably someone with skilled hands working on something timeless. 

These 4 countries will some day be more similar to us than different, it is inevitable.  As they strive for modernity we can help them resist the forces that can destroy their local culture. We believe that we need to ensure that the people making our products are able to share in the prosperity that is brought to their economies by the ease of international trade.  Too often the people actually doing the work are the last to benefit from an improving economy.  We can afford to pay our manufacturers more because the products they make for us are so good, and our customers know it. People are willing to pay more for our products because they are beautiful and well made, and it’s an added bonus to know that the money they are spending encourages prosperity in these struggling foreign economies.

Our hope is that this work will no longer be available in these countries in the coming decades, because their economies are humming along like ours; in a sense we hope to put ourselves out of business.  Our workers’ children will hopefully still do this work, but only on the weekends as a form of relaxation. 

Read on to learn more about each of the groups we work with.

Our Green and Fair Trade Partners

Mongolia - We are currently working with an NGO to create a network of traditionally nomadic women to do embroidery and felting. These women have very little opportunity to earn cash, as they work mainly in a herding community. We hope that this project can help them buy the few items they cannot trade for, as well as produce beautiful things for us.

Vietnam - A 10 year old organization which trains and employs over 200 women, to produce traditional hand-made lace and other forms of needlework, will produce a part of our pillow and bedding line.

Nepal - We have worked for 4 years with a group that helps to keep the traditional crafts alive in this, the poorest country in Asia. We sell their work in over 100 stores. They employ about 30 people who share in some of the profits and many can now afford to buy homes and send their children to school.

American Weaving Mill- This company weaves our jacquard fabrics which are sold to the decorator trade, and is also used in our bedding and pillow collection. We are working on using recycled fibers in our yarns.

Fabrics - We primarily use linen, which doesn't need to be certified organic due to the nature of its production process (uses very few pesticides). Our velvet will not become a green product until we can convince our Chinese weaving mill to go green.