We’re all unique in our own ways — and thank goodness for that. The world would be a boring place if everyone were exactly alike! We love to celebrate the differences in the members of our tribe, and one way we do that is by choosing gifts that speak to their special roles in the world. Here are some of our gift ideas for the ladies in your life.

 

She’s So Extra

Everything she does is next level, which is why the Rizma Cha Cha is her perfect bag. Crafted from a  brightly colored silk velvet Uzbek textile and embellished with fringe, it’s a showstopper — just like she is.

 

She’s a Boss Babe

She’s also your literal boss — and she’s working toward the keys to the castle. She’ll know you believe in her when you gift her one of our brushed brass key rings. 

       

An understated classic she will carry forever, the Mila pouch is constructed of black and white silk velvet ikat. She can even "mix it up" and convert it into a wristlet with our detachable brass ring. 

Handcrafted from suede & brass, GAIA x Melt 'Dash' earrings blend traditional & modern. They are a rock-solid design for a rock-solid BFF. 

She’s Your Mini Me

We bet your little squeaks with delight when she unwraps the Margaux mouse pouch! French jacquard with leather ears and whiskers, it really is as cute as she is. 

 

She’s All Ears

Our pompom and tassel earrings are just the thing for the friend who always answers when you call and is always happy to listen. 

She’s a Minimalist to the Max

She’d probably rather you get her nothing, but there’s just no way you can leave her off your list. A delicate leather and denim tree ornament says “I love you” year after year. 

Shop the entire GAIA collection now.

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Crunchy leaves, football games, sweater knits, and holiday prep are a few things we love about fall. We also love that we get to show off what we’ve been working on all summer. Have a look at the cozy fabrics, rich colors, and updated shapes that are new from GAIA this season.

New Ring Tote

It’s a tote! It’s a clutch! It’s a cross-body! With both a wrist ring, a long chain, and a design meant for folding, our newest bag is a triple threat. Our favorite styles are made of colorful silk velvet ikat textiles hand-dyed and hand-loomed by artisans in Uzbekistan. All are handcrafted in Dallas by our own refugee artisans and lined with Perennials fabrics (stay tuned for news about our partnership with Dallas-based Perennials). 

 

Bonus: We’ve also got a few new Cha Cha bags in the silk velvet ikat.

Updated Roundie

Honey, we shrunk the Roundie! This GAIA favorite has been updated with a smaller body and a shorter, chunkier tassel. We constructed the range of styles for fall from vintage fabrics from Thailand and Africa, French jacquards, leathers, suedes, and more. The Roundie comes with or without a long chain — and now with or without a wrist ring. 

Limited-Edition Pompom-Tassel Earrings

The first releases of this new earring style are four limited-edition designs using Perennials pompoms. We paired the poms with African and Ethiopian accent beads for added interest and texture. Once these are gone (yikes, one’s already sold out!), they’re gone forever, but we do have plans for other color combinations with GAIA’s own refugee-crafted pompoms. 

New Celeste Earrings

It was time for a refresh on our Celeste earrings, which were introduced early this year, so we created four new color combos — navy on gold, blue on pink, peach on wheat, and white on white. These beauties are all made with repurposed textiles and edged with gold beads. 

Updated a la Carte Tassels

There are two varieties of the latest clip-on tassel designs. The first is five tiers of poms and cotton tassels layered with brass, bone, and wood beads. The other is a chunky suede tassel in four colors: rose, olive, butter, and electric blue. All have brass hardware and look cute clipped on any of our bags, any of your bags, a key ring, and more. 

Speaking of key rings, meet the latest GAIA version, featuring our favorite brass wrist ring  and tassels handmade by Feza. The are 4 tassel color combos, and each one coordinates beautifully with our small and large pouches.  Grab and go!

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Instagram continues to connect GAIA with not only fans of the brand, but also other companies and individuals who can help us grow our mission to empower refugee women and help them rebuild their lives. Our new Baqa’a collection of embroidered Totes is the latest example of the power of social media — who knew that scrolling through pretty photos really can help change lives!

Recently, two New York City-based journalists our founder Paula had previously connected with were visiting Jordan to research a project. While there, the women toured a women’s center in the Baqa’a refugee camp. (The camp is the largest in Jordan. It was established in 1968 for Palestinian refugees and people who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It remains a refugee safe haven, and it is plagued with extreme poverty and unemployment.)

The journalists met with refugee women working in a United Nations-backed Women’s Programming Center, which was established as a sewing and embroidery center in the camp in the late-1980s and functions as a place for women and children to socialize and earn a living. The journalists were so impressed with their beautiful traditional embroideries that they shared the women’s handiwork on their Instagram accounts. But they didn’t stop there: They bought the entire inventory, providing income for 60 refugee women! They then put the word out on on Instagram that the embroideries were available for purchase through them, if anyone was interested. Paula immediately responded and, after several back-and-forth texts and photos, placed an order.

She didn’t know exactly how they would fit within the GAIA collection, but she knew they were extraordinary and that they fell right in line with the brand mission. When the pieces arrived we were so excited! They were even more beautiful than we’d imagined.

For GAIA refugee artisan trainer Bothina, the designs are even more meaningful. The embroideries are a traditional style found throughout the region, including Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Bothina has memories from her childhood of learning how to do this type of embroidery from her aunt. 

Earlier this fall, GAIA released our new Ring Tote, a versatile style that can be carried not only as a tote but also as a fold-over clutch and a cross-body. Some of our first totes were of a velvety silk ikat; for our new releases we incorporated the Palestinian embroideries. GAIA refugee artisans in Dallas have combined them with canvas from Dallas-based Perennials (more on that collab to come) to create timeless accessories unlike anything else in our collection. Bothina sewed the first tote for the collection, and she’s excited to carry it.

When you purchase a tote from the Baqa’a Collection, you are receiving a one-of-a-kind piece touched by two refugee artisans living 7,000 miles apart. We're so proud to connect with women from around the world, and we're honored to be able to impact their lives.

Shop the GAIA Baqa'a Tote collection now.

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May brings lots of good things: spring flowers, Mother’s Day, and school graduations! A Facebook feed filled with photos of young adults in their caps and gowns really lifts us up, and we love all the funny and inspiring graduation speeches that make the rounds. But what to gift an aspiring graduate?

We’re glad you asked — we’ve got just the thing! A GAIA text pouch is a mantra in textile form. Our pom-pomed pouches are playful accessories that can be a daily reminder of something she’s working toward.

Here are five ideas for go-getters who are crossing the graduation stage this season.

 

Most Likely to Impress the Boss on the First Day: Killin’ It

 

 

Most Likely to Have a Full-Time Job and a Side Project: Hustle

 

 

Most Likely to Be the Boss Within the First Five Years: Girl Boss

 

 

Most Likely to Open a 401(k) With Her First Paycheck: Adulting

 

Most Likely to Have a Solid Five-Year Plan: Goals 

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The last six months have been super busy for us! We worked day and night to get our J.Crew order ready, hiring and training refugee artisan apprentices, sourcing materials, and performing hours upon hours of quality control. It was a lot! 

At the same time, we were designing and sourcing our spring/summer 2017 line. (We wish we could say it’s the kind of thing we do a year in advance, but we're not quite that sophisticated). We released our new goodies to the site as they’ve been ready, but we are finally ready to reveal the entire collection!  Drum roll....

What can you expect from GAIA this season? For our bags: five new fabrics for Pom Pom bags and large and small pouches, colored leathers, an assortment of grosgrain ribbon trim, new combos with familiar fabrics, upgraded zippers, gold-plated GAIA medallions, and an all-new gold ring handle on our Cha Cha bag. We’ve also got a new swoon-worthy style of tassel earring we think you’re going to love, as well as new color combos for beaded necklaces and Mini Kitty purses. 

And so — without further ado — the GAIA spring/summer collection!



With this collection we refined our designs and focused on scaling a bit. That meant finding a fabric source that would allow for deeper inventory than vintage fabrics do. Paula traveled to a textile show in New York City earlier this year and brought back five heritage fabrics. All bright, happy jacquards with a contemporary look and feel, they are produced by a ninth-generation French textile mill. We paired the fabrics with colored leathers and striped grosgrain ribbon trim for a modern-preppy look that can be worn for a range of occasions day and night. The designs are unlike anything you’ve seen from us in seasons past, and we’re really pleased with them.



There are five color combinations of large pouches and four combos of small pouches using the new fabrics and ribbon.

There are three color combos of Pom Pom bags with the new fabrics.

The new tassel earring successfully takes the existing capabilities of our refugee artisans and employs a new shape. We sandwiched a single tassel between two ovals for a look that’s a little less casual than the sunburst tassel earring but is still colorful and fun. There are four color combinations of the new single-tassel earring.



We updated the Cha Cha in eight color combos and added a brushed brass ring handle crafted by artisans in India. We are OBSESSED. And it gets better:  Each bag still comes with the option of a chain strap so it can be worn 'hands-free' as needed. It's our new fave, hands-down!

Colette and Sea Foam are the latest additions to the popular range of beaded necklaces. Opposites in some ways, they are both a neutral navy and white and they look great worn as a pair.



Two cute new kittens joined the Mini Kitty litter for spring/summer. Dinah is made from hot pink ikat-style fabric with poms of lavender, orange, and green-gold. Tibbs is a purple and white checkered fabric with poms of peach, green, and hot pink. We think they are purr-fect.

Shop the entire GAIA spring/summer collection now. 

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Mother’s Day is around the corner, and you know what that means: time to find something pretty for your sweet momma. And GAIA's got all the moms covered.

Handmade products that support refugee women rebuilding their lives through meaningful work ring true with every type of mom — from crunchy do-gooder to corporate maven. Your mom is sure to take one look at the gift you give and know that she raised you right!

To make it easy on you, here are our recommendations for four types of moms, as well as a few of our favorite parenting books, since substance is just as important as style.

Earth Mother

Not only do her GAIA goodies help her go green, but they gather her granola and paraben-free lip balm so she can focus on composting and tree-hugging. Jessica Teich's Trees Make the Best Mobiles reminds moms to focus on being in the moment with their children and that kids don't need a bunch of "stuff."

 

Posh Mom

Never without her shades or Chanel — or her chic GAIA purses to pull it all together. Meanwhile, Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne, keeps her grounded, showing her that sometimes less really is more — especially when it comes to raising kids.

 

Mom Boss

She just poured herself another cup of ambition. GAIA pouches help a Type A momma stay organized so she can lean in in style. And because she knows that today's leaders are responsible for growing the leaders of tomorrow, she'll be excited to read Nina Tassler's collection of advice from powerful moms to the next generation of women, What I Told My Daughter.

 

Sporty Mom

You can find her in the club — the country club, that is. GAIA bags hold her tees on the links and keep her cool by the pool, where you might find her reading Love Lives Here, Maria Goff's book on living a life driven by meaning, intention, and even whimsy.

Shop for your mom now!

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Spring break is in full swing in some parts of the country. In others, people are just packing up. To help you plan your vacation wardrobe, we (and a few of our fans) pair popular travel destinations with GAIA goods, handmade by refugee women who are rebuilding their lives in the United States.

Glamping in Marfa, Texas

The funky desert town of Marfa, Texas, is one of our personal favorite destinations. J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons spends time there each September, and in this month’s issue of Conde Nast Traveler, she shares with readers that on her most recent trip to this magical spot, she packed the GAIA Pom Pom bag we designed especially for J.Crew (available mid-April).

Sightseeing in Pensacola, Florida

Julia Ussery, a boutique owner in the Florida beach town of Pensacola, pulled together a spring nautical look for Southern Living that incorporates our Cleo tassel necklace. Yes, the city has sand and surf, but it’s also a naval base. This casual yet polished outfit nods to that fact — and it’s perfect for an afternoon stroll downtown and the Museum of Art. 

Soaking in Sun in Cabo, Mexico

Something Beachy blogger Kelsey White shows us just how sexy a Pom Pom pouch can be when she hits the popular Mexico resort town of Cabo San Lucas wearing one of our bags made of African mud cloth with a shoulder-baring white dress. Her vacation picks appear this month on the fashion site Foray. 

Après-Ski in Beaver Creek, Colorado

Half the fun of going skiing is getting dressed to go skiing. The same goes for after the slopes. When you’ve had all the downhill you can take for one day and are ready to hit the town for snacks and shopping, round out the fashion scene with our Roundie (see what we did there?).

Touring in Washington, D.C.

Part of our team recently visited the nation’s capital, which is a popular spring break destination. (Education doesn’t have to stop just because school’s not in session.) Travel light when touring important historical monuments and museums and accessorize with our Sunburst tassel earrings. Their playful style is a much-needed reminder to smile in a city that sometimes takes itself too seriously.

Shopping in Santa Monica, California

On the other side of the country, there’s quite the opposite sentiment. Our friends who live on the West Coast tell us it’s a bit like a permanent vacation. If spring break finds you in La La Land, there’s just one thing to do — OK, there are literally a million things to do, but hang with us — and that’s take our Cha Cha to the iconic Santa Monica Pier after an afternoon of retail therapy.

Finding Bliss in Scottsdale, Arizona

The Wild West, as it turns out, is the ideal place to cultivate calm. Scottsdale, Arizona, is brimming with spa experiences designed to take you away from it all. Spend your days unwinding and refreshing with facials, massages, and more, and then venture out on the town for some serious eats with a GAIA Crescent clutch.

Marfa image by Paul Joseph via Creative Commons

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If we were to draw the time between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, it would undoubtedly be the shape of a heart: one lush curve; a downward sweep; turn the corner; and back up again to a second loving curve. ❤️❤️❤️

 If you’re thinking about sweets for your sweets, let us help. These pretties are the perfect sugar-free way to show your affection. What’s more, they are handmade with love by GAIA’s refugee artisans, who are rebuilding their lives through meaningful work that pays a living wage. What could be more heartfelt than that? 

1. Flower Crown Pom Pom Bag | 2. Elena Mini Heart Purse | 3. Love. Text Pouch | 4. Lala Roundie | 5. Laurel Tassel Necklace | 6. Ruby Sunburst Earrings

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