ALPENDRE COLLECTION

2015

 

The Idea for the Alpendre (porch) Collection was born after a trip to Muzambinho – south of the state of Minas Gerais. The goal was to meet the talented craftswomen who are part of the team of amaria, handmade clothing brand lead by Mayumi Ito.

 

Over there we met so much more than skilled artisans. We met mothers, daughters and grandmothers. We met strong, determined, resilient women. They welcomed us with generosity, brewed a fresh pot of coffee and shared their inspirations, their stories, their art. And we were marveled, and we were reminded of the women in our lives, grandmothers, aunts, mothers; of the childhood holidays, the games played on the grandmothers’ porches.

 

So when we spotted, there on Muzambinho, in a corner of the sewing room, that roll of fabric made on manual loom, with a weave of cotton thread intertwined with delicate scraps, we fell in love.

And that was how the story of the women of Muzambinho met ours.

 

Right there came an immense craving to continue to tell it.

 

“Once upon a time there was a fresh porch, with tiled floors, hollow-bricked railing, hanging plants.

Red rose bush on the garden and a huge bougainvillea bringing a generous shade.

 

The game?

 

To swing, swing, swing, admiring, at the horizon of “blu” sky, the meadows of ocher tones and the creek, beyond the grass soccerfield.”