AYYA is what happens when a few designers with similar aesthetics and personalities come together in Bali and decide to create and sell their wares. This particular group was very environmentally savvy so sustainability was high on the list of requirements for their project. In a one room workshop with nothing more than a sewing machine their first products were their spin on ‘tabi’, those wicked cool split-toed shoes worn by ninjas.
But how did this blogger in a tiny town in New England find out about this company? Google? Nope! It was a tip from one of the latest designers to add their work to AYYA’s line - Hans Haveron. Haveron has shared some of his drawings and paintings to be inked on the 100% cotton t-shirts AYYA sells and included a little bit of leatherwork he’s done. The “Haveron Glove” may look a bit familiar to fans of a friend of his, Adam Lambert, who sported a similar design during the Glamnation Tour last year.
The next question was, how did Haveron connect with a company so far from Los Angeles? Hans met the owner in L.A. about three and a half years ago through a mutual friend. He’d seen Haveron’s work and wanted to do a signature line. Last year, Hans made the trip to Bali and spent two months creating the line.
Reading company’s story stirred appreciation and anger. Appreciation for their commitment to environmental impact and sustainability, anger that we are not seeing more collectives or cooperatives in the U.S. like this. AYYA has sought out tanneries that only use non-toxic processes and dyes. They hope to get to the point of using fabric woven of organically grown cotton.
Let us hope that environmentally conscious artists here will team up with manufacturers and suppliers of the same mind here in the near future. But in the meantime, please visit AYYA. Besides Hans’ work there are a number of very talented artists and designers’ included in this store. AYYA has a warehouse in the U.S. they ship from and they accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and PayPal.
And where is this warehouse and do they stock an XS Black Haveron Glove.. I ordered mine a year ago from Ayyawear and then the business went bust.. thankfully i recently got my money back but i would still prefer to have the gloves....
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