A couple years ago, when I was a denizen of San Francisco, I spotted a stunning handmade bag in the window of  the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, in the city's SOMA neighborhood.  The bag was in a bucket/knapsack shape, with a long strap, and was carefully woven with bold geometric patterns in a bold turquoise and fluorencent orange colorway. I wasn't in the position to take that gorgeous bag home with me that day due to personal finances, but I have been haunted by longing for that bag ever since! In the interim, I've intermittently Googled around for more information about the dreamy bag and its ilk, including tracking down where I might be able to find a reasonable facsimile. Come to find out, said woven bags are called "mochila," and are the handiwork of the Wayuu Ameriindian tribeswomen, an indigenous people who live near the borders of both Columbia and Venezuela.  The designs and color combos featured on the bags (also called "Susu" by the Wayuu) are as original as each of the women who make them, and the process of making each bag is incredibly labor intensive:  it takes over 40 hours to make each one.  The women of the Wayuu make the bags in an effort to earn a livelihood, and to improve and sustain their community. A New-York and Venezuelan-based non-profit, The Wayuu Taya Foundation, sells a myriad of Susu on their site, the proceeds of which "help [to] improve the lives of Latin-American indigenous people while maintaining and respecting their traditions, culture and beliefs."  Another website, Colombian Style, has a sizable selection of said bags as well. Seems I'm not the only one into mochilas:  a while back I also stumbled upon a bit on Vogue.com that mentioned The Mochila Project, in which several major designers of note, including Philip Lim and Missoni, embellished and put their own personal stamp on some of these traditional bags as part of a charity effort that was displayed at the Webster Boutique in Miami this past fall. Now that I'm thinking about these bags yet again...it might finally be time to actually get my hands on one.  My only issue now?  Which one to get..it's so hard to choose! *** Images via The Wayuu Taya Foundation

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