Welcome back to The Code of Style and this article about a modern twist on an age-old craft featuring the brand, SORAYA HENNESSY. By carefully distilling the age-old traditions of their Wayuu ancestors, mother-daughter duo Soraya Pena Hennessy and Soraya Salas work together with expert weavers in Colombia and Venezuela to offer a modern twist on an age-old craft.
SORAYA HENNESSY is a lifestyle and accessory brand founded in August 2016 by Soraya Pena de Hennessy as a way to share her Wayuu heritage with others. They create exquisite mochilas (bucket bags) and accessories whose mystical colors and patterns transport the wearer to a far-off land.
When a Wayuu woman weaves a traditional mochila, her work tells a story, describes her dreams, and, essentially, reflects the desires of her soul. This careful art has been passed down from generation to generation, and each piece serves to tell the story of the weaver. It is said that no bag tells the same story.
SORAYA HENNESSY bags incorporate modern principles into this ancient discipline, in the form of exquisite bamboo and gold handles, acrylic chains and tasteful hidden pockets for your cell phone. Inspired by her travels all over the world and the languages she speaks, Soraya has designed unique, playful words onto mochilas in over 5 different languages including English, Spanish and Arabic.
The Wayuu (pronounced “Wah-You”) are a Native American ethnic group living on the border of Venezuela and Colombia. A big part of the Wayuu culture is the art of weaving designs in mochilas (buckets bags), chinchorros (hammocks), and mantas (robes). The technique has been passed on by women from generation to generation. Often the girls start weaving from the tender age of eight years old. Soraya’s Wayuu heritage comes from her mother, and Soraya grew up seeing her mother and grandmother weave mochilas on a daily basis.
To be a woman is to know how to weave.
Wayuu tribe
The creation of a mochila is no small undertaking. The process starts by placing a single cotton thread in a wooden loom, and can take up to between 10 to 25 days depending on the complexity of the pattern. The legend goes that Wayuu women were originally taught to create these intricate designs to mirror the delicate webs created by a spider-like deity by the name of Wale´Kerü.
Each pattern holds specific meaning to the weaver, and one single bag requires a huge amount of physical and emotional energy to create. Not only does the Wayuu technique of hand-weaving result in magical creations – each bag is strong, sturdy and as durable and long-lasting as the ancient weaving techniques that were employed to create it.
The intricate Wayuu designs have become the positive and colorful message sent from Venezuela and Columbia to the world. Soraya now works with a group of forty artisan Wayuu women in her native Maracaibo, Venezuela and across the border in Columbia, to make unique Wayuu designs that maintain the Wayuu tradition, whilst adding a modern twist on an age-old craft.
As the brand continues to grow the Soraya Hennessy team has evolved offering not only mochilas but baskets too. Working alongside Colombian and Venzuelan artisans (you can find out more about the artisans here), Soraya Hennessy has developed unique baskets combined with a Wayuu crochet flair.
SORAYA HENNESSY, well known for their eco-friendly practices and their stylish creations, has launched a new Winter/Resort collection and each unique piece invokes a story, illustrates a dream, and more importantly resonates the souls’ desires.
Set against a landscape of shared culture and fierce creative energy, SORAYA HENNESEY brings you vibrant, modern pieces that blend ancestral traditions and artisanal practices with bold western influences.
SORAYA HENNESSY is synonymous with sustainable practices. Each bag is handwoven in the comfort of their artisans own homes, meaning no factories, machines or mass-production play a part in the creation process. In addition, each bag sold by SORAYA HENNESSY works towards advancing the economic rights of Wayuu women, empowering them to become entrepreneurs themselves, and encouraging innovation, education and training for them and their families.
By working closely with the Wayuu women, SORAYA HENNESSY is at the head of a movement of local designers who shun the model of mass-production that is so common in today’s fashion world. Instead, Soraya and her team favour slow, artisanal practices, fostering a respect for their heritage and creating a positive vision for the future.
SORAYA HENNESSY brings the mystical creations of the Wayuu people to women all over the world, and is stocked at international shopping outlets across the globe.
Inspired by the Women Who Travel Curiously, Dress
Soraya Hennessy Brand
Fiercely and Shop Responsibly.
About the Founder
Soraya is a Venezuelan-Colombian designer – born and raised in Maracaibo, Venezuela, she was educated in Chicago and moved to Abu Dhabi where she founded SORAYA HENNESSY in 2016. She currently lives with her husband in Los Angeles, CA.
In October 2016, Soraya founded Soraya Hennessy (SH), an international lifestyle and accessory brand that shares the beautiful and sophisticated designs of the Wayuu artisan women of Venezuela and Colombia. SH is focused on making mochilas (Spanish for bucket bags), hammocks and hats. Inspired by her world travels, Soraya adds a modern touch to the traditional handwoven mochila with contemporary designs and catchy slogans in English, Spanish and Arabic.
About the brand
Soraya Hennessy is a lifestyle and accessory brand founded in August 2016 by Soraya Pena de Hennessy as a way to share her Wayuu heritage with others.
By working closely with local craftsmen and women, Soraya provides a stable source of employment to over 40 Wayuu families, rejecting the fast fashion business model in favor of a more sustainable, environmentally responsible production process. SORAYA HENNESSY is committed to advancing the economic rights of indigenous women in Colombia and Venezuela. Through offering wages two times industry average for their art, Soraya empowers Wayuu women to become entrepreneurs themselves, as well as encouraging innovation and providing education and training to them and their families. Soraya also makes sure to meet with her artisans whenever she can, and knows the creator of each bag personally. She shuns faceless mass-production in favour of this fair-trade alternative approach, simultaneously supporting vulnerable Wayuu communities and raising awareness about sustainable practices. As all weaving is done by hand, in the home of the artisan without factories or machines, SORAYA HENNESSY champions responsible business practices that supports Wayuu people and the planet.
The tribal yet modern SH designs can be found globally in European department stores, boutique hotels in Mykonos and top US retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman and Shopbop.
On launching SORAYA HENNESSY, Soraya set out on a journey to shed a positive light on her home country, Venezuela, and to support the Wayuu artisan women with whom she shares so much of her heritage. Each collection, with its vibrant patterns and bold tones, serves to bridge the gap between the international customer and its indigenous creators, never losing sight of the mythological story that underpins each piece. Soraya’s mission is to bring Wayuu women and their craft to the international fore, ensuring that their culture is celebrated and remembered – never lost or forgotten.
I hope you enjoyed this article about SORAYA HENNESSY and a modern twist on an age-old craft as much as I enjoyed researching it, and don’t forget to check out our other style posts here .
I’m Julia, the Senior Managing Editor and I can’t wait to share some more articles with you again soon! In the meantime you can find more inspiration on my blog “The Velvet Runway”.
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful festive season,
“Look good, Feel good, Live your best life”
The Velvet Runway.com , Instagram @julia.rees_
