In our Fall 2011 collection we debuted Mata Home, a line of home decor featuring our trademark block prints with hand-stitched embroidery and applique.
Continue Reading
Ethical Fashion Blog
Marc Newson: I can’t help thinking jewelry design when I see this guy’s work. So many cool ideas, lines, and shapes…..I want to rework these into baubles! 2013 Spring is where we are heading now.
Continue Reading
Our fair trade friends over at Global Goods Partners have some really awesome products – check out these earrings made out of recycled bottle caps from Swaziland that Michelle got at the NYIGF show. She came in to the office rocking them today and I want my own pair NOW…we’ll have to wear them different days.
Continue Reading
We are starting a new feature in our newsletter – a charity of the month. The organization will help drive sales to our site, and in return we will give them a portion of that month’s proceeds. For the first month (February) we are partnering with a non-profit near and dear to my heart, Broad Shoulders Animal Rescue.
Continue Reading
Hi ho from India. I am still here and not only is it beginning to feel like I’ve been here forever, but it’s also starting to seem like I will be here forever. Delhi is the Washington D.C. of India – this capital city is dominated by New Delhi, designed by the British in the 1920s, and what is left of Old Delhi, designed by Shah Jahan in the 1700s. You can imagine the juxtaposition: New Delhi contains the house of Jarwahal Nehru and his daughter Indira (both 1970s versions of a more modest White House) and a wide double boulevard w/ trees, fountains, and yes, even grass, that leads from the India Gate to the Government Buildings, while Old Delhi contains the pile-up of hundreds of years of mosques, bazaars, four-story homes, havelis, tombs and temples. I last wrote from Pushkar, and while there we took a side trip to the Rajasthani city of Jodhpur, before heading further north to Bikaner.
Continue Reading
In the middle of winter we need layers to keep warm, but that can make it difficult to keep a sleek silhouette. I’ve been wearing fitted turtlenecks under the majority of my dresses to solve that problem. I love the stark color contrast of black against Mata’s teal ‘Japonaise Dress‘. (I love the block print on the inside collar)
Continue Reading
As you sprinkle nutmeg into your holiday cookies or hot spiced cider this season, think about how that nutmeg got to you. There’s quite a story behind it. My friend Matt Styslinger is in Indonesia with Mercy Corps and bring us that story…
Continue Reading
The colors in the ‘Jardin‘ dress are perfect for fall. The crimson and chartreuse are vibrant, so I paired it with neutral accessories. I couldn’t believe I had this fedora that just so happened to be the perfect color….match made in fashion heaven.
Continue Reading
Aid to Artisans is one of my favorite organizations – they connect talented artisan groups around the world with skilled designers and then market the lines here in the U.S. It’s the fusion of the traditional craft sector with high end design that’s so darn awesome to me.
Continue Reading
About a month ago I had the pleasure of posing for Mata’s Spring/Summer 2012 catalog shoot. It was on location in New Buffalo, MI which I had never visited before, and it was absolutely perfect. The sun shining, the sand between my toes, and the clothes…the clothes! Mata is showing bright colors for the spring and summer, and it makes me happy.
Continue Reading
When we first traveled to India in 2003/2004, there were several books we read that gave us insight into the status of women in Indian society. One book in particular still stands out – May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons: A Journey Among the Women of India by Elisabeth Bumiller. The book really provides a thorough investigation of the diversity – and commonality – of the Indian woman’s experience, and it became a big influence in why we do what we do here at Mata. After I read it, I thought I knew pretty much all there was to know about the hardships and downright horrible treatment women in India face, from arranged marriage and female infanticide to bride burning and the expectation to throw themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyre. Well, I didn’t know about this…
Continue Reading
Calling all Mata fans in Bloomington, Indiana…!!! Mata’s coming to town and walking the runway. Students at IU are putting on a fair trade fashion show and doing their part in giving fair trade a chance to shine!
Continue Reading
Congratulations to Human Rights Watch for their successful campaign to have New York Fashion Week cancel Gulnara Karimova’s show, daughter of Uzbekistan’s long-standing dictator. She was scheduled to present her spring line on the prestigious runway, but HRW and other rights organizations intervened to voice their concerns about her role in her father’s tyrannical government.
Continue Reading
Join the celebration at Chicago Fair Trade’s annual gala featuring fair trade wine and cocktails, appetizers, and special Day of the Dead brew. Find elegant fair trade treasures in the silent auction. Global fest will celebrate the growing consumer support for products that guarantee a fair wage and social benefits to workers.
Continue Reading