OUR LOVE LIFE
We pour love into our community of artisans. Spending many months of the year in Bali designing and developing our collections we find ourselves falling in step with the rhythm of their lives.
And because we make in communities, not factories, we spend much of this time in their homes becoming as closely knit as the warp and weft of our beautiful bags. This familiarity has led us to discover so much more about the individuals in our team, and Bali itself.
A wealth of indigenous wisdom has amassed within our communities that dates back centuries. Balinese believe in Tri Hita Kirana a philosophy of living in harmony and balance with God, one another and nature.
What defines us from other artisan led businesses is how we share our objectives with our communities from the outset. We revive the heritage skills inherited from their ancestors and actively encourage related skills such as agriculture. We’ve seen an increase in the cultivation of plant fibres on their own land which we purchase for production. The effects of sustainable sourcing permeate right through extended communities enabling them to thrive working in a craft industry that positively reinforces their culture.
THE HALO EFFECT
Wayan, one of our master atta weavers, captures Stelar’s vision perfectly: he weaves to the meditative hum of his bees pollinating the flowers of his mango trees in the background. As a keen bee-keeper it was second nature for him to create our exquisite woven bumble bee charm, handcrafted using the organic atta grass that he grows on his own land.
As one of our most popular and characterful bag charms, it brings us joy to support Wayan’s bee colonies by contributing 10% of our bee charm sales to help him maintain healthy beehives and produce his own honey. This in turn benefits local biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
THE JOY OF EATING TOGETHER
Lunch time is one of the highlights of our day when we’re working together and we love to sit down and share stories about our families, interests, ideas and plans.
Balinese food is spicy and delicate - with many ingredients home grown in the volcanic soil. Some of our artisans have taken great pleasure in bestowing recipes that we share in our blogs from time to time. A favourite - Kelor - is a delicious curry made with moringa and very simple to make. Moringa is brimming with proteins, vitamins and minerals, and considered a superfood in the West, it grows abundantly in everyone’s gardens in Bali.
Social eating is embraced by other creative businesses that we admire. Berlin-based artist Olafur Eliasson created an all-female led kitchen that offers a daily vegetarian lunch for his entire studio who all sit together to share ideas and get to know one another beyond their teams.
We cherish these times together and like to think this warmth and richness is imbued in our products by osmosis.