Koguis
Koguis’s journey started back in 2010 inspired by the very spiritual Kogui indigenous people, descendants from the Tayrona family in Northern Colombia, also called the Carers of the World.
The Kogui tribe are self sufficient and live in a beautiful place called Parque National Tayrona, Sierra Nevada de Santa Martha. This exotic place is only 50 kilometres from the Caribbean sea but ranges from sea level and all the different altitudes up to its snowed peaks, more than 5 thousand meters above sea level.
The Kogui people believe the sacred place they live in is the heart of the world, as everything happening there is a replica of what’s happening around the world with global climate changes. From their perspective, we can only protect nature today as the only avenue to save civilisation and Mother Earth from destruction. From them, we have drawn courage for our journey.
We also profoundly believe that by supporting traditional techniques from disadvantaged indigenous communities, we will help to preserve the very endangered cultural inheritance of them. This is at the end of the day, Patrimony of Mankind and not specifically of a country, but to all of us.
Diana has a vast career in Fashion Design. She has been working directly with many groups of indigenous communities and artisans, developing curated collections specifically for our Australian customers. It has been a very enriching journey and a learning process.
Koguis specialises in handmade and ethically traded items from indigenous artisans in Colombia. We are committed to paying living wages to our artisans and fair prices for their products, as we believe it is the only way to help communities break the poverty cycle. It has been proven that by supporting women, many who are the head of their families, the earned money is reinvested in their communities and in education for their families. 85 per cent of our artisans are women, from diverse regions across Colombia.
Every item at Koguis is unique and their stories are special because it tells which artisans make them and why. We have been over a decade now a Member of the Fair Trade Association of Australia and NZ.
Our products include:
- Tagua eco-natural jewellery, vegetable ivory nut
- Handwoven natural fibres Panama hats, Zenu hats, Wayuu Indigenous hats *100% lambswool felt hats
- Mola & leather handbags, wallets and footwear
- Hand Loomed Cotton handbags and hammocks
- Pre-Columbian designed semiprecious stones jewellery
- Homewares, basketry, pottery and cookware La Chamba pieces.