Mati Cianci, a close girlfriend who lives in Rome with her family is visiting New York this week with her trunk-show, Italian Style Winter Collection. Mati is showing a finely edited selection of elegant jackets, dresses, knitwear, shawls, leather bags and accessories made by artisans from around the globe.
Items from Mati's Winter Collection that particularly caught my eye are from a female collective based in Morrocco named Migrant du Monde. These women have migrated from such troubled hotspots as Burkina Faso, Benin, Congo, Afghanistan and Iraq and have settled into new lives in Morrocco. The Orient-Occident Foundation which "since 1994 strives to provide the most deprived a structure where everyone can learn, play, share and train" provides workshops and sewing machines where these women who were skilled artisans in their homelands, sew and hand embroider beautiful jackets, coats, dresses, tunics and scarves enabling them to provide a living for themselves and their families.
I know it's short notice, but if you're in the neighborhood, do stop by. Mati will be back in the Spring and I'll make sure to let everyone know ahead of time.
