The bag arrived more promptly than I’d imagined, considering it came from the middle of a war zone.
And, when we unwrapped it, we discovered a whole new level of sustainable art.
Natasha Zinenko collects old denim jeans, rips them up and sews them into pieces of wearable art.
She does this from her sewing room in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. She has been sewing her way through a brutal war, creating beauty in the midst of heartbreaking destruction.
The poetry and poignancy of her efforts astound me. So, I bought one of her cool repurposed denim bags for my daughter Molly’s birthday.
Molly despises waste and I knew the concept of a handbag made from discarded jeans would intrigue her.
I also thought she’d appreciate the bag’s dramatic backstory.
Natasha doesn’t just create beautiful things, she also packages them carefully in brown paper wrapping stitched together and decorated with denim. And she includes a handwritten note.
She puts all of this loving care and kind attention into pieces she’s sewing while war rages all around her.
“Be healthy and happy!” she wrote in her thank you note to me. “With faith in peace in Ukraine and around the world.”
I’m definitely going to order more things from Natasha because they’re beautiful and because I’m interested in sustaining things like a brave artist’s optimism and a wounded planet’s drive toward peace.
Here’s a link to Natasha’s Etsy store if you’re interested in seeing more of her work:
Discover more from AnotherSlice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.