Handmade’s Tale
Seattle-by-way-of-Brazil shoe designer Carolina Pagano
Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jan 15, 2009 at 09:15AM
7 Comments
Here’s a bit of gray area for you: It seems like lately I’ve been meeting Seattle-based designers whose goods are fabricated by hand, in a really meaningful way, but also far, far away—-for example, in Brazil. Can we call that local? Not exactly, no.
But these kinds of products—like Carolina Pagano’s sweetly chic shoes, designed by the Brazilian-born Seattleite, made by hand by artisan cobblers in her home country, and offered exclusively at Bellevue’s tony Posh on Main, might be called close enough. Considering that, as far as I know, we’ve no collective (the word ‘factory’ has taken on such a distasteful pallor, no?) of artisan cobblers here in Seattle, would the neutral-meets-nice-but-naughty (imagine them with cuffed boyfriend jeans and a plain white tee on Saturday morning in June) skimmer pictured here be fair game in terms of my “new year’s resolution to purchase only American clothing and accessories?”:
I met with Carolina yesterday at Posh, and we talked about the culture shock of moving to Seattle, how she simply has to buy her bikinis back home because the ones here provide too much coverage, Michael Pollan’s stint on KUOW that morning, and, at length, the incredible intricacies of designing and implementing handmade footwear. Even Angela, the glamorous owner of Posh, was listening in; a finer primer on footwear fabrication you would probably have to pay for at your nearest trade school.
I came away feeling that, by virtue of the fact that Carolina lives, works, and spends her dollars here in Seattle, and because she contracts artisan fabricators and furthers the idea of old-world methods in this not-always-brave new world of ours, we can call them close enough. Posh has eight styles from Carolina’s spring/summer collection, and pre-fall and fall styles will follow.
Oh, and this was funny: Carolina very sweetly complimented my outfit and suggested somewhat urgently that I start a blog and post pictures of what I’m wearing each day. I told her that in fact I had just started a blog, and suggested she read Tuesday’s post on it. I’m telling you, that me-style thing is in the air. And, well, I did concede to posting a few pics of the new-to-me vintage coat I rescued from a Salvation Army in Federal Way in the final days of ‘08, because it truly is amazing. I’ll do that as soon as I overcome my fear of naval gazing and narcissism…
(Image from Carolina Pagano)
an interesting question… although i love that her shoes are “artisan” and handmade, i don’t think her system would qualify as american made. it’s kind of funny…in a way, it’s more global-local, as in internationally-reaching but supporting local artists. if i designed jewelry here in seattle, but then sent off my designs to a friend in china who manufactured it, you would hardly call that “american made.”
i do like her shoes, though. i really like the amethyst, stacked-hell sandals in her SS09 collection. they remind me of coach meets michael kors shoes. and her flats are cute, too, though i don’t really “do” flats. very marc jacobs meets fremont.
No, you couldn’t call them American-made. Not by any stretch—and I haven’t called them that either.
I’ve called them “close enough.” The example about sending jewelry designs off a friend in China might miss the point a little … we’re not talking about just sending designs off anywhere because it’s easier and cheaper. And we’re not talking about sending off a job when there is someone close to home that could do it just as well. Again, I know of no collective of cobblers (okay, factory) here in Seattle that has generations of experience backing it up. Sure, there must be some great cobblers working in America, and certainly Carolina could look into that option, but I think there is an esoteric but true value in the fact that they’re created in a Seattleite’s native country by artisans who, again, have generations of skill behind them. In that way it feels like a cultural exchange of sorts and beyond the “fashion miles” involved in shipping, etc, it feels like a really meaningful and worthy product. Ie: close enough.
The bottom line is that it’s Carolina’s company, and she’s spending her dollars — groceries, mortgage payments, childcare, shopping, eating out — in Seattle, and I think we can evoke an ‘all boats float’ idea here. We all keep each other ‘up’ when our city’s economy benefits from our livelihood. Extra kudos and attention and praise and ink and monitor space will always go to 100% locally produced goods, but yeah, those who are thoughtfully, intelligently, creatively ‘close enough’ get some air time too. At least in my book.
And p.s., I don’t really “do” flats either … but I do love that thick linen bow.
i don’t necessarily disagree that Carolina’s shoes are “close enough,” however, i feel like your’re answering a different question with your conclusion. i do find value in the “cultural exchange” which her company has created, and i most definitely praise her for supporting artisans in her native country. yes, her shoes do come with a deeper sense of history and meaning, but just because she supports the local economy as an individual, i wouldn’t quite call her products “close enough” to “american.” i don’t know how i would classify them, but if you put a shoe to my head, i would say “artisanal.”
as for the jewelry example, i am chinese, and i do design jewelry which i make myself from materials from local businesses and international artisans. but let’s say i just did the designing and had a friend in china execute my vision out of materials that can only be procured in china, not because it’s easier and cheaper. i think i would have a hard time marketing my jewelry as “american.”
and i guess what i’m finding out as i respond is that i wouldn’t really want to market it as “american.” i think the value in carolina’s work, as well, is exactly what you touched on; the fact that it’s artisanal, meaningful, internationally-local.
i really enjoy this post. the grey area definitely has me thinking….
I really enjoy the puzzle, too, and I’m glad we’re talking about — thank you!
You know, I considered that; that you might be Chinese, or that the materials you were working with (hypothetically or otherwise) might not be available here.
In fact, that’s another shade of gray. Is something ‘made in Seattle’ when all of the materials were sent here and then merely assembled in town? Yeah, it is, but is it an American product? Man it’s good that I really love the color gray…
But to get back to your original idea—no way, you couldn’t market your work as ‘made in America’ — just like Carolina can’t, but I’ve featured several products that were designed locally and I feel justified in making that designation in print. If I featured your jewelry, I would want readers to know that someone in their town, someone who spends money at their coffee shop, had a hand in creating and sees most of the profit from it.
I think where we’re really missing each other is that I’m using ‘close enough’ mostly in terms of my new year’s resolution. I’m saying, a product that is half-local, half-American (and I absolutely think Carolina’s shoes are half-local and half-American, not half-locally made or half-American made, but half-local/half-American in a larger sense) is ‘close enough’ to meeting my standards and if I really want to slip those little babies on under some cuffed, baggy, totally worn in denim, well, I would probably let myself.
And I’d only feel like a little bit of a weasel.
most definitely! these shoes would be a purchase i’d feel good about on many levels, including the fuzziest of edges of your new year’s resolution. they’re a great find and a great catalyst for an interesting discussion. thanks for letting me “squeeze your mind grapes,” as jack donaghy would say. :)