Cuyana

My junior year of college, I bought a canvas tote bag printed with pomegranates from a company called Ann Judge. (Sadly, I don’t think they exist anymore!) For the last six years, I’ve used it to carry my things to and from school and then work every day (including my laptop and planner). It’s been thrown in cars, toted to the beach, and tucked under countless airplane seats. If we were doing a cost-per-wear analysis on this piece, it would be in the pennies. Naturally, it’s showing its age, but I love it so much that it never occurred to me to replace it until I noticed that the previously threadbare corners had become holes.

Since that’s actually a problem, I’ve been reluctantly looking into a replacement. Reluctantly, that is, until I found Cuyana. I don’t think there’s ever been a company that has so immediately and completely resonated with me, and I know that many of y’all will feel the same way. From their website:

We believe in both beauty and intentional buying. We love the joy of finding treasures and the pride of spending wisely. Cuyana means “to love” in Quechua, a language of the Andean regions of South America, and every piece we design is imbued with our love for quality, timelessness, and beauty. We want to love every item in our closets. We want to revel in the tactile beauty of the world’s finest materials and marvel at consummate craftsmanship. We believe in style, not fashion; in quality, not quantity. We celebrate fewer, better things and strive to live a life of inspired simplicity.

WOW! Isn’t that amazing? I just love it so, so much, and feel like it applies to so much more than just clothes or accessories.

If you’re interested, here’s a little video from their site that explains their mission in more detail:

The Cuyana Story from Cuyana on Vimeo.

Cuyana is based in San Francisco, but they travel around the world to find and match the best craftsmen and materials (the same ones luxury brands use!) with each product. Because they’ve consolidated their production in one country and sell directly to consumers, they can offer pieces at a much lower cost.

I was not surprised to see that Jamie, someone I consider to have perfectly classic style and excellent taste, carries a Cuyana tote. (That’s her husband’s overnight bag, which I also love!)

I found this gal while Googling, and she looks pretty stylish, too!

I’m pretty set on the tote in caramel, but I’d love your opinion on two details:

— Tall or short? I think the tall is more similar to the shape of my current bag, but I like the look of the short.
— Foil stamping? Since I don’t particularly love my initials (EAT, yikes) or monogram (ETA), I’m considering “T” or “EM.”

What do you think?

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