Inside Vogue: The Mochila Project

For all the beautiful women who love handbags: The so traditional mochila handbag is a must-have in the coming season (you will see!!). For those who are not familiar with it: the mochila is the traditional woven bag indigenous to the women of the South American country Colombia. Recently, as Cartagena has become such a popular resort destination, more and more people (I mean senses-chic women!) are picking them up from the local artisanal vendors and taking them to Europe. The popularity of these bags is also a great thing for the Wayuu America_Indian tribeswomen who make them; these women sustain their villages’ economy by handmaking these pieces and selling them to local vendors. Each bag takes up to 40 hours of work, and all designs and color choices are unique.
Recently there has been a project, the so called “The Mochila Project”. It is a project - conceived and executed in just two months—wherein the traditional handicraft of these handbags was spiced up with the techniques and styles of contemporary fashion designers. Each participating designer was given a traditional bag to be updated and embellished in any way. The results were stunning. There are exotic crocodile and silver hardware, designer Phillip Lim tricked out with crystals, whereas Missoni wove theirs in threads of silk and colored the chain and trimmings. Take a look at those pics (from top: Missoni, Moschino, Oscar de la Renta, Thookan, Roger Viver, Calvin Klein).
The entire Mochila Project Collection is currently on display at the Webster, Miami. (source: US Vogue Magazine, June 2010).