My Experience in the Last Couple Months.

It is crazy how much time goes by and how many amazing new things I have learned in a couple months. As I am getting close to the end of my mandate, I would love to share some of my experiences with my partner organizations – Red Oepaic and Mistura (Camebol) as a Fashion Design Officer.

My first partner organization is Red Oepaic. It is a national organization which consists of associations of artisans and artisans from different people and cultures of Bolivia. They consist of approximately 2,568 Bolivian families and they promote solidarity, transparency, integrity, gender equity and respect for the cultural heritage of peoples. Please check out the amazing things these artisans are creating https://www.redoepaic.org.bo/.

Within the last couple months, I have been working with Red Oepaic in creating a few Fashions Trend Forecasting 2022/2023 documents which includes men apparel, women apparel, children apparel, and accessories. In the next couple weeks, the documents will be introduced to various artisans to inspired them on their new collection for the 2022/2023 season.

My Second partner organization is Mistura which is part of Camebol. Camebol is a non-profit organization that unites women entrepreneur and women in business from a small to large scale. Please check out their website at https://www.camebol.org/quienes-somos/. Mistura is a store located in La Paz, Bolivia. It is one of the first concept stores in Bolivia that showcase the traditional Bolivian culture. Their items are to give value to traditional ways that Bolivian makes clothes.

Within the last couple months with Mistura, I have been doing extensive anthropological research for two regions of Bolivia – Chiquitania and Tarabuco. Both beautiful regions, with beautiful individuals, textiles, and traditions. While it was challenging to find information on the region of Chiquitania, I was delighted to connect virtually with a volunteer working in Chiquitania. His name is Sebastien, and he brought Pedro Pinto Supepi from the community of Santa Rita, in the municipality of Conception to the meeting. It was very nice of them to make the time to talk to us about the traditions, cultures, animals, and textiles of Chiquitania which were information we would not have found on the internet. I am looking forward to see how the information collected will come to life in their designs for their new line of purses and accessories.