Monailtd

I worked very hard for the last weeks in order to create original and practical bags that can be used anytime and any day, but always adding a special detail that separates each bag from the rest.
 I remember the old days when I used to have a subscription to a Newspaper. I used to love waking up in the morning with a cup of coffee and read the news. Then, the Internet made it easy to access not only to one newspaper, but to all of them! Plus, it came the time to save some waste; and even though you can recycle  newspaper, it is still waste.
These bagswere inspired in those nostalgic times. But it was also inspired in the fact that no matter what is the medium, I always want to read news, learn things about the world, art, politics, and new ideas that can help me expand my mind.

One of the very first things that my mom brought me from U.S.A were the Sex Pistols' cassette NEVER MIND THE BOLLOKS HERE IS THE SEX PISTOLS. Last year, I had the opportunity to come full circle and revisit my all time Punk favorites. Not long after that, I was inspired to create a raw I LOVE PUNK! Bags and Totes collection. These completely hand painted bags were a great deal of work, but also a lot of fun. If Punk is an attitude, then these bags have an attitude, just like my self-portrait from the cloth paper scissors magazine.




The Punk Bag Collection




















I LOVE PUNK! becuase the image of women as mere sexy object bothers me.  I LOVE PUNK! because I do not like to be told what to do.  I LOVE PUNK! because it is more than music or a fashion statement.  PUNK is an attitude of individuality and restlessness in a world where globalization, generalization,  and conformism is the trend.

My father is a very formal man. I remember him shining his shoes religiously every day. "It's important to look neat,” he always told me. So I grew up thinking just like him. I never questioned that belief, until a couple of months ago.
That particular day, it was the Open House at my kids’ school. I spent most of that afternoon fixing my vegetable garden. And, by

the time we had to leave, I looked at my hiking boots and felt a peculiar sense of pride. They were dirty. I felt somehow that dirtiness represented a connection with the earth, with the vegetables that I had just planted. So contrary to what I had learned from my father, I decided to go with my dirty hiking boots to the Open House. My pride was short-lived when I was confronted with unpleasant glances from some of the “well dressed” people. I thought about those days when I also wore formal clothes, and my shoes were shiny as well.

I thought about blogging that experience. But, the idea really came to life months l…

When I submitted this self-portrait to the contest “Little Me” to the Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, I had no idea that the issue was going to be about authenticity. And honestly, I don’t know which of the two honor me more: the fact that I was published as one of the finalist, or that my painting was chosen as part of the authenticity theme. This publication reminded me that nobody can validate or approve my dreams and what it is my heart; only the courage of being authentic can lead the way.

I have advocated for many causes on my blog, but this one is different. I can’t explain what I felt when I finally learned about the exploitation and the suicides at the Apple factories in China. It turned out that I have and iPad, iPhone, iPod, and a Mac Book from the company that represented the poster picture of modern iSlavery, including allegations of suicides in the fabrics due to exhausting 36 work hour shift. Disturbing. Not even Nike went that far. Now I was hunted by my devices made out exploitation and human suffering. How could I have been so naive? I bought this so cool idea about the  “Apple people”, and I thought my iPod came straight from Cupertino. But reality hurts, and it hurt really bad. There I was writing a post on my blog about fashion and exploitation… and on the other hand, I was consuming technological devices made on way worse conditions than the purse I was telling people not to buy…. but, what could I possibly do? The matter of fact was, I do like my iPod …