Just spent 5 days inside the Javits Center, exhibiting Creative Women's hand-woven textiles, at the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF). Each day I walked to the Javits, about 1.5 miles, mostly along the the High Line, the park in the sky that was once an elevated train line and is now the talk of NY. Good design abounds on the High Line.

HighLine

I would climb two flights of stairs and as I reached the top steps, started smiling as I saw this view.  Natural plantings, chunky chaise lounges attached to the original train tracks, elegant drinking fountains, comfortable benches so you can watch the foot traffic on the High Line or the car traffic below you on 10th Avenue.  By the time I reached the end at 30th St and 11 Avenue, I was ready to spend the whole day inside (although I would have rather been outside).

Once inside, I rarely left my booth, even though I wanted to see what was new and good looking.  But I realized that I didn't have to go far to see some innovative and pleasing uses of something old ... or to see a new take on a traditional object.

Two aisles down, I met the women from Makaua,(MAKAUA in the ancient Nahuatl language
has two meanings:“hand to hand” or the act of “giving a hand”). 

Makaua

Makaua hires over 400 people to grow the palm fronds, dye their amazing and contemporary colors, weave the wonderfully shaped baskets, and market them around the world. They epitomize the concept of using tradtional skills to bring new life to craft.

At the end of the show I realized that I really hadn't spent much time looking around, so I looked across the aisle at BittersCo, the wholesale and retail general store, out of Seattle, and founded by sisters, Amy and Katie Carson. This is a booth filled with interesting reruns ... one product tweaked or reconfigured that becomes something new. Their set of tin boxes, nested within each other and perfect for storing kitchen and desk paraphernalia, are hand-made in Mexico from old oil barrels. Good looking, useful, "green" ...

bitters

And, how can I resist showing our Creative Women's new throws and blankets from Guatemala ... our contribution to the new and lovely at the NYIGF? 

Atitlan

It's Spring here in Vermont (with some record breaking flooding in the Champlain Islands where I live) and I'm thinking alpaca. In a few months I'll be back at the New York International Gift Fair, listening to our customers asking for something more wintery than our Ethiopian cotton and silk. So, I decided that it's time for Creative Women to branch out ... to another country(s) and another fiber. And since the Peruvian government offered to sponsor my trip, I traveled to Lima two weeks ago to attend the Peruvian Gift Show.

Floodsof2011

Lima is a bustling and interesting city. There are lovely areas for walking and looking at small shops, old architecture, and tucked away residential areas. There's also some wonderful small museums; Museo Amano, a private collection of pre-Columbian pottery and textiles and Museo Lorca with lovely gardens and a visual presentation through the display of sculpture, pottery and art, of the historical progression of the people of the Andes.

Stripes have always been popular.

LorcaCactus

LorcaGrounds

The food is terrific.  If we hadn't stayed in the 3B (a wonderful, friendly small hotel in Barranco) with their cooked to order breakfast everyday, we would have eaten out 3xday, sampling seafood, grilled meats, hip, au courant bistros, and Chifa (Chinese and Peruvian fused together into something delicious). Every morning there were lots of conversation about what/where we ate the night before.

Limalunch

And yes, I did go to the Peru Gift Show. Going to Peru (7+ hours by plane) made it possible for me to meet Bryant Archie, the founder of D.Bryant Archie, a creator of classic and contemporary textiles (throws, pillows, rugs) hand-woven in Peru. Of course, I could have met her in NY; now that we've met in Peru, we'll follow up in NY. Both our products reflect our admiration for traditional motifs, hand-woven textiles, and simply elegant contemporary style.

DBAcover

I also met very friendly and helpful Peruvian producers and designers who gave me an introduction to alpaca. I learned that there are differences between doing business in Ethiopia and Peru; Ethiopia is a "one-stop" shopping experience, where in Peru, often different businesses or coops specialize in different steps in the production process. But  I left Peru with ideas for 3 different collections of scarves and throws (all alpaca) and am now working on how to take my idea and turn it into a warm and cozy product that our buyers will wow over ... and buy.

I hope to have some prototypes to show you at the NYIGF in August.

Ellen