OUR STORY
Helen Balarezo was born in Peru but grew up in Ecuador, studied at Rhode Island School of Design and graduated as a Graphic Designer. She worked for several years in this branch but she always missed “working with her hands” as she always says. And this is how she started her 10 years of Jewelry design and after that a bit of everything, “whatever inspires me at the moment”.
Since 1999, the artist focused on jewelry design as the fertile medium through which she expressed her limitless creativity. In 2014 she decided to integrate other media to unleash her creativity and thus began to expand her ideas in designs for lamps, textiles, ornaments and currently handbags.
Today Helen works with toquilla straw as the substructure for her handbags, a material native to Ecuador from a trunkless palm whose leaves are fan-shaped. Toquilla straw is a traditional material used by artisans for several centuries. Helen works with women from the communities around her home to create the bases for the purses and bags.
The freedom offered by this noble material makes it possible to explore all kinds of shapes, sizes, textures and colours. The aesthetics of toquilla straw weaving is enhanced by the mixture, elegance and movement of the ribbons with their bright colors, generating unique effects. With all these combinations Helen transforms ordinary pieces into extraordinary ones.
She draws inspiration from nature with its abundant colors, textures and shapes, from her travels, learning new cultures, and from the people she encounters. ¨Each individual is unique and touches you in a different way, that emotion often generates an inspiration for a handbag, jewel, or eclectic design…¨
Her designs show respect and love for what mother nature gives us; toquilla straw, semi-precious stones, shells, wood, coconut, etc.
“ My purses are a rhythm, created as they flow, a crafted meditation”
Helen Balarezo
Founder
