During the last century women from many different societies all over the world have made progress toward equality. In China, women who came of age during the reign of Mao Tse Tung were taught that “women hold up half the sky” and many are still committed to this philosophy today. Half the Sky Designs was named to reflect this same sentiment!
Marty Stevens-Heebner and Christine Calla met unexpectedly on a rainy day in Glendale, California at the Brand Boulevard Arts Festival. Their booths had been placed side by side and because of the inclement weather very few people attended the event. As a result they had a lot of time to get to know one another and found they had a lot in common leading them into a wonderful friendship and eventually a working partnership.
Marty is an author, designer and talented crafter. Resourceful and creative she looks at everything with fresh eyes and is inspired by the people and places she has traveled. She holds a degree in ancient history from Cornell University, spent time as a human rights worker in Chiapas, Mexico in the aftermath of the Zapatista rebellion and has traveled to every continent on Earth. With color and variety the feature of Marty’s designs it’s no wonder she found a match made in heaven when she happened upon the fair trade certified organization that now makes Rebagz for Half the Sky Designs!
Christine is an author and jewelry designer originally from the Philippines now happily residing in the USA with her husband and children. For her bold jewelry designs she finds exquisite stones and unique pendants that she turns into absolutely brilliant works of art. Christine co-authored the book Beaded Vintage Jewelry Designs (Lark/Sterling Publishing) with Marty and helped facilitate Marty’s trip to the Philippines that ended up being the birth of their Rebagz line of handbags!
Rebagz is a line of bright durable totes, packs, handbags and wallets made from recycled juice packs and nylon rice sacks. A few years ago, Marty set off to the Philippines, designs in hand, to find fabrics and people to make handbags in the traditional manner. Instead she found a dedicated and talented group of women weaving and sewing a variety of well-made accessories using recycled materials. The women were thrilled to learn about Marty’s design ideas and immediately began implementing them into their work giving the line a fresh and fashion-forward look!
As we learn more about global warming and the notion that nothing and no one is exempt from its repercussions, Marty thinks future generations will instinctively recycle. In a very short time everything will contain reclaimed parts and pieces. At Half the Sky Designs they believe this is the natural next step in human evolution, leading to a New Economy and potentially to another boom the size of the technology boom of the ‘90’s! That’s why they call Rebagz “the next evolution in style”!
saving the world... one handbag at a time
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