Luxury Craftsmanship as an Alternative to Building Social …
115
higher standards but also protect the environment and the communities in which they
operate”.
8
The use of natural fibers, such as the Cumare, the cañaflecha, the iraca, the werregue, the paja tetera, the chocolatillo,
9 and other native plants of different Colombian territories, provides the design with an intrinsic connection with a local context
that goes beyond its borders and is consolidated as the source of multicultural connection between nations. Fruits, such as achiote, turmeric, vegetables, and plants,
have been used anciently by indigenous communities to achieve unique pigments
and natural color palettes that connect harmoniously with the created piece and its
intellectual value.
Reassessing concepts established in the traditional fashion system, including in
making fashion a conceptual look that integrates the creative ability that exists in the
country, its diversity and the capacity for the responsible use of natural resources as
a source of sustainable raw material, has allowed creating spaces for articulation of
ancestral knowledge.
Design and crafts meet permanently to exhibit through exclusive pieces, the history behind a territory, the resilience of a community, artisanal talent, the beauty
of Colombian flora, and the ability to maintain dynamic equilibrium and long-term
stability systems at the environmental and social level. These microsocial dynamics
converge for the recognition of craft-making and the meaning of its creation at the
national and international level, maintaining the legacy and distinction of local crafts.
These characteristics of diverse societies in race and culture such as Colombia add
to the luxury crafts a characteristic of differentiation and uniqueness.
The brand Religare in union with the Coreguaje indigenous community, as well
as the designer Álvaro Leyton along with Doris Jajoy, weaver teacher of the Inga
community, are two national perspectives addressed in this chapter, to approach
luxury crafts as a revolutionary process in the contemporary world. Through these
examples is possible to observe individual and collective choices linked to history,
culture, the environment, and other forms of organization in the world, achieving a
feeling of innovation, balance, and ethics [23].
7 El Cumare
The Coreguaje and Tikuna communities located in the department of Caquetá, south
of the Colombian territory, inhabit lands where the chambira, a local palm, grows.
This palm has for years represented the basis of its economy and sociocultural
development process through the fabric: the Cumare.
This palm is used to make backpacks, chinchorros,
10 hammocks, hats, and necklaces of striking colors, achieved with ancestral and natural dyeing techniques, using
8 https://www.essentiaconsulting.net/lujo-sustentable/. Accessed 2 July 2019.
9 Typical natural fibers of Colombia.
10 Large hammocks created with a handmade fabric.
115
higher standards but also protect the environment and the communities in which they
operate”.
8
The use of natural fibers, such as the Cumare, the cañaflecha, the iraca, the werregue, the paja tetera, the chocolatillo,
9 and other native plants of different Colombian territories, provides the design with an intrinsic connection with a local context
that goes beyond its borders and is consolidated as the source of multicultural connection between nations. Fruits, such as achiote, turmeric, vegetables, and plants,
have been used anciently by indigenous communities to achieve unique pigments
and natural color palettes that connect harmoniously with the created piece and its
intellectual value.
Reassessing concepts established in the traditional fashion system, including in
making fashion a conceptual look that integrates the creative ability that exists in the
country, its diversity and the capacity for the responsible use of natural resources as
a source of sustainable raw material, has allowed creating spaces for articulation of
ancestral knowledge.
Design and crafts meet permanently to exhibit through exclusive pieces, the history behind a territory, the resilience of a community, artisanal talent, the beauty
of Colombian flora, and the ability to maintain dynamic equilibrium and long-term
stability systems at the environmental and social level. These microsocial dynamics
converge for the recognition of craft-making and the meaning of its creation at the
national and international level, maintaining the legacy and distinction of local crafts.
These characteristics of diverse societies in race and culture such as Colombia add
to the luxury crafts a characteristic of differentiation and uniqueness.
The brand Religare in union with the Coreguaje indigenous community, as well
as the designer Álvaro Leyton along with Doris Jajoy, weaver teacher of the Inga
community, are two national perspectives addressed in this chapter, to approach
luxury crafts as a revolutionary process in the contemporary world. Through these
examples is possible to observe individual and collective choices linked to history,
culture, the environment, and other forms of organization in the world, achieving a
feeling of innovation, balance, and ethics [23].
7 El Cumare
The Coreguaje and Tikuna communities located in the department of Caquetá, south
of the Colombian territory, inhabit lands where the chambira, a local palm, grows.
This palm has for years represented the basis of its economy and sociocultural
development process through the fabric: the Cumare.
This palm is used to make backpacks, chinchorros,
10 hammocks, hats, and necklaces of striking colors, achieved with ancestral and natural dyeing techniques, using
8 https://www.essentiaconsulting.net/lujo-sustentable/. Accessed 2 July 2019.
9 Typical natural fibers of Colombia.
10 Large hammocks created with a handmade fabric.