Handloom Nation — inspiring women RSS

  A Common Thread continues as we connect with a young entrepreneur helping to positively impact refugee artisans affected by conflict and migration. During a family trip to Bali, Lauren Baird and her cousin Cara Boccieri became inspired by the unique traditional skills of refugee artisans from the Thailand Burma border. Motivated to provide these refugees with access to an international market to sell their products, the cousins founded Ways of Change -- a collection of thoughtful accessories. Lauren's work as co-founder and creative director of the brand helps to fuse together tradition (the preservation of beautiful generational skill sets) with that of modern style. What are you most passionate about changing or enhancing in the world? I am most...

This fall, Indigo Handloom introduces A Common Thread - a series of interviews with women from diverse backgrounds that are connected by compassion and their drive to contribute to social good. Today we meet LauraLe Wunsch, the co-founder of Oxgut Hose Company. Oxgut gives old fire hoses a new life by turning them into beautiful home goods. Each of their pieces are meticulously hand-crafted in the US. We caught up with LauraLe to learn more about her inspirations and what's it's like working with recycled materials. What inspired you to start Oxgut? Oxgut co-founder Kevin Riley and I were working on prototypes for iPad and MacBook Pro Cases, using reclaimed wood and Kevin actually had the idea to try to see...