“Celebrating craftsmanship by working with the best artisans in the world and using high-end sustainable materials”
CRAFTSMANSHIP
For Valerie Garmino is not only about beautiful and unique fabrics, knits, materials, and techniques. It's about people. It's caring for and supporting the communities that enrich our lives with knowledge and skill. Meeting countless artisans and craftsmen in different countries in both South America and Europe, the designer had the opportunity to understand more closely the art of craftsmanship, and that countless hours and often a lifetime of experience is required to master this art. Her mission became clear; to develop a sustainable business venture where her designs could become wearable art while helping to improve artisans and craftworkers’ quality of life.
The importance of preserving these skills does not only lie in the fact that they are part of cultural heritage, but they are also a source of work and livelihoods.
Currently, craftsmanship is critically endangered and it’s under a risk of no longer being practiced. More and more society give less value to these practices, and therefore new and young generations of artisans lose interest in learning the master, ancestral and traditional techniques of craftsmanship.
We feel the responsibility of helping the preservation and safeguard the art of craftsmanship through designs that incorporate this process as a main component of Valerie Garmino.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR!
The designer started this journey a few years ago. She and her team traveled to different countries in both South America and Europe and met with artisans in person so they could learn more about them; not only their techniques but also their philosophy, beliefs and needs so we could create a strong relationship that is based on trust and loyalty.
We've partnered with a family-owned knitwear company in Italy to recruit very skilled local female artisans to work on Valerie Garmino's designs. On the other hand, we have a beautiful team of Peruvian indigenous artisans most of whom they live in the Andean mountains and have a lifelong craftsmanship experience.
Many of them started to knit which they were 5 or 6 years old. Their art has been shared and passed down generation after generation for hundreds of years.
EMPOWERING WOMEN ARTISANS
When women are given the opportunity to generate income, it impacts their families and their community economic standing. The goal is to empower women artisans to make strategic, independent life choices because they have jobs with fair wages. These women’s lives are improved and transformed, securing a better future for them and their families.
When you get a piece from Valerie Garmino, not only you are getting beautiful and unique wearable art, but you are also helping to preserve a remarkable way of life and a cultural treasure.