gold wrap

Cream and golden flowers blossom over fields of green and pink in a design that celebrates the splendor of ancient Lanna. Woven by hand, they trim the external pocket of this black cotton sling bag from Keawpankanlaya. There is an open pocket inside and playful fringes on the outside. The bag closes with a rain tree wood button.

Ethereally lightweight and sheer, this bubblegum-pink paisley shawl from Uma Tripathi features chikankari, or hand embroidery of a style originating in Lucknow. In chikankari, the fabric is first block-printed with the desired pattern, and then the design is embroidered by hand over the printed areas. The artisan further adorns the cotton and silk blend wrap with kamadani, in which flat gold or silver metallic wire is used to create small dots or floral motifs. The ends of the shawl are crocheted by hand.

Designed by Raquel and Gregor of Peru, this baby alpaca and pima cotton blend hand woven shawl is both lightweight and cozy warm. The shawl features a strong color palette of fuchsia, gold-orange, and purple in three bold color-blocked stripes with a subtle arrow pattern. Fringe finishes both ends of the shawl. Baby alpaca refers to the fine fleece from the season's first shearing.

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.

Fuchsia dominates in a multicolor handbag with golden accents. Known as the festival of color, India's annual Holi celebrations inspire this dazzling brocade clutch from Vipin. Beadwork adorns the velvet flap, and an inner pocket closes with a zipper.