Clothing – @madebyvoz Hair + MUA – @maya_rene Photography – @irysplacida Other VOZ Woman: Basak – @basakagaoglu Vanessa – @vanessasuanny Jess – @jessbee Junny – iamjhibby
VOZ is an ethically inspired fashion company seeking to empower indigenous women by elevating their designs and their voices. Committed to sustainability and the protection of marginalized women, VOZ’s luxury pieces combine subtle beauty with traditional Mapuche design. We talked to Jasmine Aarons, the founder of Voz, about her connection to indigenous communities, where she finds her inspiration, and the role of women in the future of a sustainable fashion movement.
Using the words of Aarons herself, “VOZ exists to empower indigenous women economically, professionally, and creatively! VOZ gives a voice to artisan weavers through collaborative design and healthy work opportunities.” Each woman who touches a loom and weaves a piece, incorporates her own feelings, dreams, joys, sadness, and life experiences into the textile she is creating” The Mapuche weavers and Jasmine have been working together for 6 years.
Designs are born through a fluid collaboration of drawings, protoypes, symbols, patterns, and starting over and over again with blank slates. Jasmine is dedicated to “Convenio” her collaborative business model built around collective agreement on pricing, pay and design. She adds, “Because of the nature of our model and the sustainable business we offer VOZ weavers, they are loyal and devoted leaders of our artisan production system”.
Ethically sourced and sustainability-made, each style is crafted to “make every person feel beautiful” These core tenets steer Jasmine’s inspiration for each collection. Her latest collection (VOZ SS18), “celebrates the bold voices of dancer Ruth St. Dennis and artist Georgia O’Keefe, 20th century pioneers of American modernism whose artistic freedom lives on in creative acts of empowerment and liberation …[the] VOZ SS18 collection merges flowing silk and cotton silhouettes with terracotta, sky blue, and blush hand-woven textile layers. In the spirit of these women who so notably challenged and transformed the course of artistic history”
The future of VOZ, and of sustainable, ethical fashion, is limitless. Jasmine Aarons summarized the moral prerogative of smart consumers, “we now have enough options to dress and feel beautifully while supporting positive, ethically made, and sustainable products with our purchases”
Written by Michaela Brennan
Jasmine Aarons, (center) Founder of VOZ being interviewed at the Bold Voices Presentation VOZ SS2018