Kutula Kiss weaves fun, fabulous, fairly traded jewelry in a beautiful way
The significance of jewelry goes beyond simply accessorizing an outfit. Sentimental pieces can hold us closer to someone we love or have lost, rings can display our relationship status or even represent an accomplished victory (like winning the Super Bowl), and charm bracelets display what we cherish. Adorning jewelry is an outlet to share our story with the world. Lifestyle brand Kutula Kiss isn’t just sharing stories – they are weaving them together on a global scale.
Embracing the power of jewelry, Kutula Kiss founders Cindy Berg and Kathy Pettigrew are bringing together women from around the world in a project of collaboration, creativity, and understanding. The fine craftsmanship of Colombian artisans inspired the duo to bring the beautiful, quality goods they loved back to North America. Determined to do business differently, they created a system for ensuring the women who make these pieces are supported, empowered, and paid fairly.
In one of the South African dialects, ‘Kutula’ translates to ‘peace’. ‘Kutula Kiss’, as a whole, means to “Kiss the World” and symbolizes sharing good things, giving, love of experience, and exploring – a mission that Berg and Pettigrew have firmly woven into every aspect of the brand. The collaborative process between the studio, the design team, and the artisans solidifies the Kutula Kiss message.
The community development agency that Kutula Kiss works closely with for the necklaces from the Muse Collection supports single mothers in need who face serious challenges in desperate situations such as physically and emotionally abusive environment. To put into perspective, hand beading 5 necklaces feeds a teen mother and her baby for a day. Another design collaboration is with a woman business owner in Mexico that hires and trains moms so that they can provide better lives for their families, and one of the suppliers in Colombia is a village of 75 women who are the wives of farmers. Kathy explains, “It is never just about the jewelry, but more of an all encompassing feeling of creating a mix of ethnic and western casual trending designs” while impacting the lives of those who make them.
Continually striving to find new impactful collaborations and trending designs around the world, Kutula Kiss pieces ignite hope, empowerment, and peace in the heart of the consumer and also in the lives of the artists who make them. By connecting the consumer to the process, an enriched appreciation for travel, culture, and creativity flourishes to further generate harmony, healthy work environments, and great relationships for the artisans involved. In knowing that every bracelet bought will empower the woman who made it, it’s a purchase anyone can be proud of for years to come.
By kissing the world a little more each day, we can all be one step closer to kutula!
###
About Kutula Kiss:
Founded in 2011, Kutula Kiss embodies the spirit of the collector, the nomad, the wanderer. It is for those who value the journey in life, for those that want to hold in their palm a piece of the past, present, and future. From faraway lands to the main studio in Vancouver, B.C., inspiration is collected, carefully curated, and woven into the thread of our essence. Objects are chosen for their beauty, integrity, perfect imperfection, and uniqueness with appropriate color stories to create easy layering collections for today’s well traveled, “bohemian-glam” girl. Through a collaborative process with artisans around the world, stories are beautifully woven together. Kiss the world with us at kutulakiss.com or on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
For feature interests, image and interview request contact:
Allyn Lewis
press@allynlewis.com