Criola and Totem: Partnership with style

The artisan of the project Art Criola sells an exclusive collection of bags for the line of stores Totem and tells us how to work to be able to live with craftsmanship in Brazil .

By Karla Bernardo Montenegro

In these pieces you can find quality and creativity. The artisan of Criola Art Jandira da Costa Lage has gained the recognition that many artisans look for with their work: The sale of an entire collection – around 300 pieces – of bags for the Totem store. On the window of the store that only works with exclusive pieces, a card announces the successful partnership (See photo).

“As soon as we saw the collection of bags with African inspiration and Brazilian flags we fell in love with them and wanted to have them in our store”, says the style manager of Totem Renata Joca. This is the first time that the company makes this type of partnership. “These bags have a special value to them due to the fact that they come from the work of black women that fight against racism, homophobia and discrimination. Having made this partnership made it possible for us to have a craftsmanship product that is visually rich and help the group socially through its work.” She said.

This is also the first time that Jandira Lage received an order this big. “Ever since I entered Criola, many opportunities have appeared” she says. The successful partnership with Totem started when Jandira was conducted by the NGO Criola to participate in the Art Industry project, supported by Firjan. “Through the project I started to receive the orientation of the stylist Veronica D´orey and I was able to better by pieces, making them delicate and adequate for a more demanding public”, she explained. According to Jandira, without loosing the inspiration of African visual references and working with the same material as she always has – such as beads – the production went through a lot of changes. “My craftsmanship became perfect and well made. The pieces gained their own individual style”. She analyses.

The artisan Jandira Lage

All this quality resulted in a significant raise of work hours. One of the main items of this collection, the purse with the Brazilian flag on it (Detailed photo), took more than and entire day to get done. “This purse is entirely patched with many beads and small details” she explained. With the conclusion of the style orientation and the collection all done, the first important thing was the first edition of Fashion Business. An event in which many artisans and small companies presented their work to an audience made of mostly businessmen looking for new things. On the Firjan stand the collection of bags was negotiated to be sold exclusively to Totem stores and other businesses involving artisans of the Criola Art Project.

“I realized that I would have to have more people working on this to finish the order, since I had three months to produce more than 300 hand made bags. The ONG Criola offered me an advancement and with this money I was able to buy all the material and join a team.”

Foto da Vitrine da loja Totem

When asked about the difficulty in living as an artisan in Brazil , where historically you find the people that sell your work getting all the money, Jandira Lage said…

- The artisan has to believe in his work. It is important to take courses and get better at your work, till you get to a quality product. After that you should not be afraid and you should value your work, so that you don´t sell it for less.