The holiday season is here (2016 has flown by!) and we’ve got a few gift ideas for all the special women in your life. From bags to jewelry to home decor, a gift from GAIA is extra sweet, because you’re not only treating someone you love with a beautiful handmade accessory, you’re helping our refugee artisans have meaningful work, support their families, and rebuild their lives. And that’s a gift that will keep on giving for years to come!  

** Now thru Monday 11/28, get 25% off sitewide with code THANKS2U **

For Your Interiors Obsessed Mom

She’ll be the envy of her next book club once her fellow readers get a read on our Lala tassel pillow, made with our exclusive GAIA-designed ikat textile. It’s a real page-turner.

 

For Your Gabby Great Aunt

She might talk your ear off, but you can do her ears a bit better with the gift of our new Sunburst tassel earrings. Her new Talitha Earrings will be her favorite new talking point.

For Your Sassy Baby Sister

You’ve treated her like your own since the day she was born. Now treat her to GAIA’s Neon Sabrina Fringie. It’s petite and perfect — just like she is.

 For Your Oh-So-Practical Older Sis

Never one to waste a word or gesture, she’ll appreciate that there are three ways to wear our Fold-Over clutch. The Rosetta is subdued yet special — right up her alley.

For Your Endlessly Flirty BFF

This gal walks through life with a twinkle in her eye. Gift her the Flower Tribe Cha Cha bag and she’ll always be able to give a little wink, even with her baby blues closed.

For Your Hippie-Chic College Roommate

You see her only once a year, and you have no idea how she funds all her adventures. But you do know that Africa is on her bucket list. Tide her over ’til she gets there with the Zulu Cleo tassel necklace.  

For Your Darling Little Niece

She’s the apple of your eye and guaranteed to purr with delight when she sees the Sprinkle Mini Kitty. Plus, pom-poms are her fave!

For Your Circle of Five

You could. not. live. without these women. They pick you up when you are down, make you laugh until you cry, and never ever judge when you grab that 3rd (or 13th) cookie. Give each and every one a zippered pouch embroidered with the word “Tribe.”

For Your Kickass Boss

She has inspired you and championed you — and never once taken credit for your work. Her accessories game is as undeniably strong as she is, but she’ll get it the promotion she deserves with our Sunburst beaded necklace. 

For Your Lifesaving Co-Worker

More than once she’s found your missing file/rebuilt your wonky spreadsheet/showed you how to unhide those ding-dang cells. Express your gratitude for those surprise cups of Starbucks with our All Eyes on You bracelet.

For Your Favorite Baby Sitter

She comes whenever you call, bathing your babies and tucking them in at night when you can’t be there. Show her how much that means to you with the beaded and tasseled Lucy lariat.

For Your Prized Pet Sitter

In a pinch or over a weekend, she makes sure Snarls Barkley is walked and fed and loved. Gift her a GAIA key chain (maybe No. 88?) and she’ll always remember to lock the door behind her.

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Fall is finally here! We adore fall! The brightly colored leaves, Texas State Fair … and the brief window of time when we’re not either burning up and swatting mosquitos or shivering and skidding on icy roads. We also love the changing of the seasons because we get to share a new GAIA collection with you. The GAIA team and refugee women have been very busy these last few months working on new designs and old faves in fresh colors and patterns. 

For starters, let us introduce the Cha Cha. We took our popular Pom Pom bag — still bringing a smile to every face that sees it, including those who spied it in the J.Crew spring 2017 Fashion Week presentation — shrunk it a bit, and replaced the poms with slinky fringe up both sides! It comes in eight styles, made by our refugee women with textiles sourced from Africa and Thailand. The Cha Cha has a chain strap and easy-to-access elastic opening, just like the Pom Pom. She’s also like the Pom Pom in that she likes to party … but with a tad more sass! 

Another bag we’ve been working on is the “Gigi,” and she’s extra sassy as well. Stay tuned for her debut in the next month or so! 

In the accessories department, our Sunburst earrings with tassels are brand new for fall 2016. They were inspired by dreamcatchers and build on the embroidered earrings that our refugee women were already so skilled at making. These super-lightweight earrings are everyday statement pieces, and they are online now. You’ll also find current GAIA favorites — Crescent and Fold-Over clutches, as well as Pom Poms, Roundies, and pouches of all sizes — in new-for-fall textiles scooped up all over the world.

Headed to the site any moment (we hate to make you wait but really wanted to tell you about these goodies!) are pom-pom hair ties and the “Laurel,”  a new necklace collection that takes our fun Cleo tassel necklace to a more refined level. It’s an elevated look with a bit of shine — and it definitely belongs on the holiday party circuit

And, finally, one last trick up our sleeve: new text pouches with new sayings! They’re not quite ready to go live, but here’s a little hint: We thought your “SQUAD”  needed to be told “hello, gorgeous,”  especially if you’re all busy “adulting.”  Because “you fancy,”  you know? ☺  

Now for the most exciting fall news:  All of this newness and growth has allowed us to do what we’re here to do in the first place: provide even more income to more refugee women in our community! We just welcomed a new women to our team; we’ll be introducing her soon. She’ll hopefully be followed by another refugee woman or two in the very near future — and this is all thanks to you and your support! Though we love, love, love to make handbags and other accessories that you love to wear and that cause your friends to ooh and ahh and ask, “Where did you get that?,”  there is nothing like knowing we’re helping women have meaningful work, take care of their families, and transform their lives.

That’s Style With Purpose. And that’s why we’re here.

 

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Products with stories. Goods for the greater good. Items with beauty and meaning. These are part of the DNA of GAIA.

 They are also in the DNA of Dallas-based home decor brand Wisteria. So it made perfect sense for GAIA to partner with Wisteria on a line of pillows earlier this year. 

 GAIA founder Paula Minnis and Wisteria co-founder Shannon Newsom met about five years ago through their daughters, who became close friends through school and soccer. When the moms each discovered what the other did professionally, they knew they would work together. 

 Shannon says she immediately felt a kindred spirit in Paula, and soon Wisteria was carrying GAIA’s tabletop goods, bags, and jewelry. When GAIA launched pillows, Wisteria began to carry those too. 

“What stands out about GAIA,” says Shannon, “is that not only does the company empower women, Paula has an incredible sense of design. Her background in color and textiles and the design sense of the whole team and they way they put things together mean they can provide products that high-end companies like Wisteria can work with.” 

What’s more, of course, is that GAIA’s purpose and Wisteria’s purpose are aligned. In the same way that GAIA exists to provide sustaining work to refugee women, Wisteria wants to create what co-founder Andrew Newsom calls “a virtuous cycle,” in which the company, its customers, its artisans, and the community all benefit.  

The GAIA/Wisteria partnership reached a new level, however, after Shannon returned from a mission trip to Guatemala, where she was working with orphans. One day, she took a break to mill around a market, where she found gorgeous handwoven fabrics she wanted to turn into pillows for Wisteria.

 She brought those fabrics — indigo mud cloths, embellished cortes, embroidered huipils — back to the United States. GAIA’s Lauren created dozens of one-of-a-kind designs from the textiles, determining the best ways to showcase patterns and embellishments and finding the right complementary accents. Our Syrian refugees, Huda and Bothina, brought those ideas to life with their sewing skills. 

Those pillows are now available exclusively at Wisteria’s Dallas store.

“We are always interested in something that has a story to tell,” Shannon says. “We couldn’t have a better partner in that mission than GAIA.”

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