A Light and Delicate Detail with Real Weight

The fringes on DG bags from the Naiá Woman Line carry many stories. They are produced through collective work in rural communities in the state of Espírito Santo. In this short text, we share some details of that process.

Sustainability is one of the defining words of our time. But what does it truly mean, and what impact can it have on fashion?

Creating sustainable design means recovering high-quality craft techniques, valuing skilled labor, reusing materials, emphasizing function and preserving the environment. Above all, it means developing a new mindset around creative and production processes, giving new meaning to ideas, behaviors and consumption habits and, ultimately, adopting a different way of life.

Jacqueline Chiabay, from Espírito Santo, owned a respected namesake leather-clothing brand. Always concerned about the scraps left over from production, she could not accept discarding such a valuable material. Focused on that waste, she created her Couro&Tramas studio in the 2000s. Long before sustainability became a major fashion topic, Jacqueline — an artisan and self-taught creator — was already developing techniques and methods to reuse waste from the fashion industry.

Along with reusing materials, the designer carries out social work in rural communities in Espírito Santo, bringing together homemakers, retirees and people looking to earn additional income to help produce her creations. The first step is finding people interested in this type of work. Next comes training in traditional craft techniques such as crochet, knitting, macramé and others required for production. By bringing people together, building skills and valuing new talent, the process creates distinctive products with their own character, puts materials that would otherwise be discarded to use and creates meaningful work opportunities.

Today, Jacqueline organizes groups according to their skills. Some people collect materials, others prepare leather scraps that are cut by hand with scissors into threads and strips, while others prepare balls of material. Through this rich and genuinely sustainable work, design pieces are created as true works of art, including the fringes used on some DG bags as well as products for other fashion and interior-design companies.

Denise Gerassi is proud to be part of this important cycle within production, using and encouraging this partnership with the Couro&Tramas studio to create pieces together.

There is, however, an important challenge that must be approached with maturity. Companies purchasing larger quantities of bags for resale sometimes expect every piece to look exactly the same. They may not always value the small differences that make all the difference. Fringes made by Dona Maria, who is moved by the work she creates, may be slightly different from those made by Durval, a retiree who wanted to occupy his time and supplement his income.

Fortunately, our pieces carry subtle differences and may even have small imperfections as a result of this exclusive handcrafted process. We value that, and we believe you do too.