NAWA: SOUTH AMERICAN NATURAL LEATHER

Hello/goodbye Rio!  Now that the Olympics are over, I am recalling that seeing the waterfront/ coastline of this city was as much a highlight as the event itself.  So unusual: both steeped in its European ancestry and yet very modern.  However, the backdrop of the natural beauty of Brazil, the amazing rainforests and the immensity of the Amazon river and the jungle adds mystery to its exotic beauty.  Well, for us North Americans exotic, for Brazilians it's their backyard natural.

Many years ago through my designer friend Trish Ewanika of the Toronto fashion boutique Ewanika I was introduced to NAWA:  a natural rubber textile made by an indigenous tribe of indians by the same name who still call the amazonian jungle their home.  I am still researching how it came to be but briefly the process is cotton sugar sacs are coated with the milk like sap of the rubber tree; then smoked over an open fire and the end result are these 'hides' of gorgeous brown material.  It is finicky to work with and reacts over time as any natural material does. 

Hermes made a bag of this material, I have made several attempts using it as trim and I am now working on entire bag ........  hopefully completed before the next Olympics!!!