fabric

Make heads turn with this treasure from afar. Inspired by the ancient textiles of the Silk Road, Uzbek artisan Dinara expertly crafts gorgeous ikat textiles into a stylish and sturdy patchwork bag. With a main zipper closure, the lined interior features two handy pockets with a zippered compartment at the back for keeping essentials close at hand.

Inspired by The Hmong tribes of Southeast Asia, this gorgeous jacket showcases designer Chattima's true love of her culture and strength in design. The indigo and white fabric is sourced from vintage cotton-hemp pleated skirts traditionally worn by Hmong women. The sleeves feature striped fabric in red tones woven on the hand loom by the Karen Hill tribe. The jacket is edged with thin a red band referencing the red hand stitch details that often accent traditional costumes. This statement jacket is truely a fusion of East meets West.

Featuring a geometric patchwork in colors of lapis and white, this exotic hobo handbag makes an excellent companion wherever you go. Hailing from Chiang Mai, Thai artisan Chirada designs the bag, handcrafting it of cotton blend fabric. Leather accents and two braided straps complete it. This handy shoulder bag features a central compartment that opens with a zipper flanked by two compartments with magnetic snaps. The fully-lined interior of the bag features various pockets for securing small items.

This enchanting tank tunic dress beautifully brings together elements from nature fashioned through handmade batik techniques. Balinese artisan Desak Nyoman Parwati’s chic design is also eco-friendly, as it is crafted from leftover rayon textiles that otherwise would have been discarded, thus reducing waste. The fashionable patchwork dress boasts colorful vine, leaf and dragonfly motifs in a vibrant palette of azure, teal, chartreuse, white and wisteria shades. With a flowy, relaxed fit and side seasm pockets, it's a perfect throw-on-and-go style for the season. Motif's and color placement may vary slightly due to the upcycled nature of this style.

Originated by the Akan peoples of Ghana, colorful kente cloth is the best-known of all African textiles. Kente is woven by hand in strips, which is how it came by its name (kente means "basket" in the Ashanti dialect). Ghana's Rachel Armah creates this colorful cotton blend scarf in cheerful shades of blue, pink and cream. The scarf's width allows it to double as a shawl.

In kente cloth, each color has a symbolic meaning: black symbolizes maturation and intensified spiritual energy; blue signifies peacefulness, harmony and love; green symbolizes vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, and spiritual renewal; gold represents royalty, wealth, high status, glory, and spiritual purity; grey is for healing and cleansing rituals; maroon signifies the color of mother earth, associated with healing; pink and purple are associated with the female essence and female aspects of life; red symbolizes political and spiritual moods, bloodshed, sacrificial rites and death; silver is associated with the moon and represents serenity, purity, and joy; white is for purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions; and yellow represents preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility, and beauty.