While students at the Rhode Island School of Design, Grain designers Chelsea Green, James Minola, and Brit Kleinman participated in a career shifting course led by designer Mimi Robinson entitled Bridging Cultures Through Design. This six week program connected the design students with groups of artisan communities and exporters in Guatemala. The goal was to create unique textile products to bring to US and international markets that celebrate Guatemalan artisan techniques and traditions while building sustainable incomes for the artisans.

Sololá purse made from a vintage huipil

This year, Grain reconnected with those exporters and artisans to bring two of those products to market. The first one is a line of small purses, called Sololá, which celebrate the artistry of Guatemalan women weavers. Each purse upcycles a vintage huipil (a traditional woman’s blouse woven on the backstrap loom) to create an individual statement.

According to Green: “With Sololá, we are able to use small scraps of vintage textiles. What makes it unique, is that we turn these scraps inside out and use them on the reverse. This simple gesture creates an explosion of texture and color. It also exposes the complex hand work that went into these amazing textiles.”

Chi-Chi necklace

The second product is a series of textile necklaces, called Chi-Chi, after the famous Chichicastenango Market (known by many as the most colorful market in North America) which the designers visited in Guatemala while students at the Rhode Island School of Design. The original concept for the necklaces was envisioned by Grain designer Brit Kleinman after she saw the shape and construction of skeins of thread used for ikat tie-dying.

Chi-Chi will be available in various colors, thicknesses, and lengths in late March from the Grain website. Sololá will be available in four color variations and two sizes from the Grain website and the Seattle Art Museum shop in Seattle, WA. Grain is a member of 1% For The Planet, which means that sales from Chi-Chi and Sololá will benefit the preservation and restoration of the natural environment along with creating sustainable income opportunities for artisans in Guatemala.