C.J. BAKHOS x PIECE & CO

Chicago-based fashion blogger C.J. Bakhos initially caught our eye with her minimal style and enviable wardrobe. Her blog, Toe that Line, is her creative outlet where she shares her outfit choices, shopping picks, travel bits and latest discoveries on up-and-coming designers; which brings us to our point today. C.J. introduced us Piece & Co, a sustainable company that sources custom, artisan-made products and textiles for some of the world’s top fashion and retail brands:

“Things are heating up in Chicago. For the past several years, the Second City has been the setting scene for lots of exciting ideas, some even calling it the new Silicon Valley. But the now start-up rich culture has been churning out a lot more than tech advances.

Kathleen Wright is the founder and CEO of Piece & Co., a company which works to provide employment to artisans around the world by contracting for their handmade goods and then using these goods in collaboration with notable fashion brands to create unique and exciting products.

Social enterprise has begun to make a place for itself in the fashion industry thanks to the very hard work of a select few. The latest example was launched recently at Nordstrom with its “She Makes It” campaign, a collaboration with Piece & Co. Bombshell brands like Rebecca Minkoff, Alice & Olivia and Joie are using textiles sourced by Kathleen and her team and producing striking, fashion-forward pieces.

At the same time, Piece & Co. is providing employment (and therefore food, education and shelter) for thousands of artisans and their families. It is an impact that Kathleen is focused on growing, as the sales and popularity of the collaborations grow as well.

As Kathleen travels around the world, she speaks with female artisans to try to understand what changes can be made to make their lives better. What they want is not a handout. They consistently answer her question by asking for employment. They want to provide their children with education and safety and the only way they can do that is to have work.

If you have ever strolled the markets in a foreign country, you know that feeling; the feeling of discovery and delight at all the amazing handicrafts, textiles and products that you have not had the chance to experience by shopping at a big box; the bright colors and gorgeous patterns that pulse with the life and culture of their makers.

Piece & Co. has chosen Chicago as it is place to grow and thrive, and it has been working. Kathleen notes the importance of the choice: “The Chicago community has been incredibly supportive of us. From Impact Engine, to the investor community, to investors, Chicago has been a place where we have been able to find our voice and develop our model. People may think we are at a disadvantage being in the fashion industry and based in Chicago but there is an authenticity about this city and the people here that resonated with our customers and the fashion community.”

Kathleen has found a way to harness the booming power of fashion commercialism in the developed world to bring sustainable employment to impoverished artisans in the developing world. This also means that we get to see inspired, distinct looks on the front lines of fashion. And, as individual purchasers, Piece & Co. is giving us the easiest way to contribute to social change. Buy something beautiful!”

Images via Nordstorm, Piece & Co and Toe that Line

On the featured image: block printers in India

Written by C.J. Bakhos and edited by Alexandra Zografou