Forty years after the end of the Vietnam war, US bombs dropped along the
Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos have become expensive jewelry worn by American
fashionistas.
Delicate bracelets encrusted with diamonds, bronze pendants, necklaces
and
drop earrings — all made from ordnance left over from America’s deadliest
war
— are on display on the sidelines of New York Fashion Week. Crafted by
artisans in Laos, who smelted shrapnel in straw-roofed workshops, they are
distributed by Brooklyn startup Article 22 and now sold in nearly 40
countries. Inscriptions such as “love is the bomb” and “dropped + made in
Laos” are engraved into the metal, a play on modern slang in which “bomb”
means “cool,” not just a lethal weapon of war.
“We want the jewelry to be conversational pieces,” said Elizabeth Suda,
cofounder of Article 22, which is named after the universal declaration of
human rights. “When you see someone wearing a bomb, you’re gonna ask,
what’s it all about? Why? In a very literal way, it tells a story,” she
said.
Article 22 calls its jewelry line “Peacebomb” and in a sign of their
growing stature, items have been selected to appear in a stall operated by
trendy fashion-forward boutique The Curve on the sidelines of Fashion Week.
But not only has the jewelry been endorsed by American actresses Zoe
Kravitz and Olivia Wilde — it also prides itself on being ethical.
Since being set up in 2010, Article 22 says it has paid to demine 700,000
square miles (65,000 square meters) of land in Laos, the most bombed country
per capita on the planet.
Buy Back the Bombs
Profits from the simplest bracelet clears 32 square feet, while their
most
expensive piece, a 1,250 dollar necklace, clears up to 840 square feet.
“The problem of unexploded bombs could harm the health and opportunities
of
Lao people for generations to come, if not for efforts like Article 22,”
said
Channapha Khamvongsa from the Legacies of War advocacy group.
Many of the tens of millions of bombs dropped from 1964-1973 never
exploded, leaving behind about 80 million tennis-sized bomblets that have
killed thousands of villagers and children. In the highlands of Xieng
Khuang province, artisans in the village of Ban Naphia smelted ordnance
fragments into a thick, shiny liquid that they first fashioned into
spoons. “They
were able to take something so negative and turn it into something that was
positive and useful and that could generate income,” said Suda. “It was
really a way of them reclaiming their land and their place in the
world.”
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Discovering their work, she came up with the idea of making bracelets for
export, promising to buy the first 500 for four times the local price. And
thus her initiative, Buy Back the Bombs, was born.
Over the intervening years, they have refined and diversified their
designs
into a full collection of bangles, necklaces and pendants.
Jewels made from Ban Naphia bombs now sell in 39 different countries
through 150 different retailers.
Subversive fashion
“People really like those a lot because they are unique pieces that they
can’t find anywhere and it allows them to become story tellers also,” said
Suda’s business partner, former banker Camille Hautefort.
Nevena Borissova, founder of The Curve chain of high-fashion boutiques in
New York and other US cities, was happy to showcase their work.
She praised the “amazing” jewelry. “They make money, they employ and
support the local communities. I was like, we’re behind it,” she said.
Sass Brown, acting associate dean of the Fashion Institute of
Technology’s
School of Art and Design in New York, said Article 22 is part of a trend for
similar projects.
Falling Whistles sells whistles fashioned after those used by child
soldiers to raise money for war victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Emi and Eve sells jewelry and metal clutch bags out of recycled bomb
casings and bullet shells from Cambodia, and Fonderie 47 makes watches and
jewelry from Ak47s from Africa. Brown said the best fashion is subversive.
“I think the best fashion makes people think and does challenge people.
That’s the role of art, in its purest form,” she said.(AFP)