Osborn Handcrafted

Hey you guys it's Kaley. I just wanted to share with everyone an awesome shoe company I found the other day! They're practices are really inspiring and I hope you all enjoy and appreciate the artisans' work. Check out their website here and read a little bit about their awesome shoe production below! =) (they also have a pretty cool blog attached to their site you should check out)

Osborn: Know Your Shoe

Officially launched in 2009, Osborn offers the marketplace a unique collection of handmade footwear cultivated with positivity, hope and dedication.

Co-founder Aaron Osborn, whose family runs one of the largest orphanages in Guatemala, stumbled upon the idea for Osborn in 2007 when he met an out-of-work cobbler while doing charitable work in the country. He and co-founder, Carla Venticinque, were searching for a way to combine their artistic backgrounds with their desire to uplift their adopted homeland. This search led to Osborn Shoes. That first cobbler still works with them full time, as do a small driven team of 20 other gifted artisans. Nestled in the volcanic mountains outside Guatemala City, these artisans craft shoes in a time honored old-world manufacturing environment dedicated to integrity and quality.

Osborn’s vertically integrated manufacturing practice sets them apart, establishing a work environment that is sweat-shop free, worker driven and brand focused. Each shoe is signed by its maker, as a testament to the sense of pride for the maker, as well as its wearer.

SHOE PRODUCTION

Osborn owns its own production workshop located in Guatemala. We currently have 25 artisans and 4 administrators employed full-time. We work personally with our production team to ensure high quality handcrafted shoes - entirely fair trade with locally sourced materials.

All the materials for each shoe are individually hand-cut and and each shoe is assembled by hand.

Each and every Osborn shoe represents not only a fashionable statement, but also a step in the right direction in respects to world employment and sourcing standards - we believe it is ever more important to know where your valuables come from.

Always hand cut, always hand crafted.

Insoles waiting to be finished.

This is our happy family. Photo by Carla.

Our mother's on Mother's Day.

Second Skin...

Following are a few images and links that might be inspiring and hopefully interesting and enlightening:

Oregonia Gracilis (Decorator or Dresser crab) festooned in sea weed. Watch a BBC video about them here.)

Girl in Harajuku area of Tokyo, Japan.

Boy of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, captured by Hans Silvester.

A caddis fly building its case
A weaverbird nest in Namibia.

Fishing Line (2006) and detail by Tara Donovan

Accumulation of Yo-Yos by MICA grad, Marla Parker.

An experimental coverlet crocheted by Emily Barletta, a MICA fiber alumnus.

Catherine Bertola's Dust Collection, 1999.

The works of Anu Tuominen (above). For more inspiring work, visit her website here.

Above, the works of Kimsooja. For more information, including her Bottari project, visit her website.

Nancy Rubin's Mattresses and Cakes (1993)

El Anatsui's Bleeding, 2007.

Dave Cole's Knitting with Loaded Shotguns, 2008.

Fishing Nets in Maine.

Fashion designer Hiroshige Maki's Rubber Band Dress (1993)

Untitled by the 'outsider/visionary' artist, Judith Scott.

Traditional Shaman's Cloak, Central Asia

Coral Reef

an assortment of Nick Cave's Soundsuits

Bamileke Feathered Costume - Cameroon Mabu and below, a dancer in costume.

Images from the book (un)Fashion by Tibor and Maira Kalman.

Annette Messager's "My Boarders" (1972)

Lucy Orta's Refuge Wear and Habitent. For more information about these projects visit the Studio Orta website.

Kaija Kiuru's "Chamber" 2002, made from lace. "Using dozens of antique circular tablecloths that the artist collected in secondhand shops, she constructed a temporary domestic shelter from the fruits of thousands of hours of work. Kiuru is concerned with the nature of home and women’s lives and the fact that 80 percent of the world refugees are woman and children. The simultaneous fragility and semi transparency of the tent created a stunning resting place." cited on the artandpolitics blog.

Taylor, Bearing (2009)

Knitted superhero costumes by Mark Newport (2006-2010)

One of Lucy & Bart's collaborations described as "described as an instinctual stalking of fashion, architecture, performance and the body." More on their website here.

Dave Cole's Kevlar Baby Onesie, 2008.

Rosalie de Monod de Froideville's Hideaway (2006-2008).


The images of Phyllis Galembo:

Atam Masquerader, in front of cotton silkwood tree, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004

Baby Dance of Etikpe, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004

Sierra Leone

Ano Dance Masquerade, Alok Village, Cross River, Nigeria, 2004

Okpo Masquerade, Calabar South, Nigeria, 2005