J.Crew's Jenna on Mochila Bags

"Thanks!" to GemTwin & Rifka, who shared the following article from the New York Times (click here to read the article in its entirety).

Mochila Bags: In the Moment, and Long Gone
By Karin Nelson
June 30, 2010

IT takes the women of the Wayuu tribe of Colombia and Venezuela up to a month to weave a mochila bag, working eight hours a day, every day. It took no time at all for J.Crew, which featured the strappy satchels in its June catalog, to sell all of them. In fact, they were gone before many customers had even flipped open the issue.

“Craftsmanship is something rare and very valuable,” said Jenna Lyons, J.Crew’s creative director, who was not at all surprised by how quickly the bags went. “There are few things that are still made by hand, much less in a technique that is handed down through generations and is a means of support for a community.” On top of that, she added, “It’s a beautiful bag.”

But there is more to it than that. Recently, the mochila has become something of a cult item, toted around town by fashion editors and It girls, and the subject of chatter on style blogs. “It seems to be the iconic tribal bag,” said Anne Slowey, the fashion news director of Elle, who has picked up a few on her travels. “The perfect mix of practical, exotic and chic.

Much of the craze can be traced to November when the Vogue editor Lauren Santo Domingo organized the Mochila Project. For it, 40 designers, from Alexander Wang to Oscar de la Renta, were each given a traditional bag and asked to rework it in their own style. The extraordinary results — the Calvin Klein was trimmed in snakeskin; the J. Mendel, in fur — were then auctioned off at a charity event in Miami that left those nowhere near South Florida somewhat envious. ...

The PS1 bags, each of which takes five to seven mochilas to make, are $1,100 to $2,250 and will be hitting Barneys New York later this month. In the meantime, J.Crew has just received a second shipment of dusty-hued mochilas, which are $175 at its shop at 1035 Madison Avenue. At least, last we checked, they were.

I remember having a mochilla-style bag growing up. It was lovingly made by my Tia Maria as a gift. And thus, no where near these prices discussed in the article. I am actually surprised to hear how fast J.Crew's version sold out too! Those really didn't last long, did they? ;)

What are your thoughts on the article? Did you find any points shared particularly interesting? Do you like the style of the Mochila Bags?