Home JOURNAL Behind the Label | Project Eleven27 by Laura Siegel

Behind the Label | Project Eleven27 by Laura Siegel

Designer Laura Siegel's Project Eleven27 honors the victims of last year's Rana Plaza building collapse. Handmade from recycled saris and benefiting Sreepur Village, Bangladesh, each scarf is a tribute to a life lost in one of the deadliest garment factory incidents in history. Read below for the story behind the label.

What is the meaning, story, statement, and/or mission behind Project Eleven27? How did this project come to life?

Project Eleven27 was an initiative we started in response to the Bangladesh garment factory tragedy on April 23 2013. We wanted to create a memory for the 1,127 lives that were tragically lost. By working with our artisans in local communities around the globe, we believe we are bringing awareness and fostering the change in the garment industry we so desperately need. Our ultimate goal with this project is to give back to those in affected areas. We have partnered with Sreepur Village, an organization with efforts in facilitating the resources to provide the health, knowledge and skills needed for the affected families to function independently in society.

How are the sari scarves from India integrated into the project? What is the story behind them?

In our wishes to support ethical practices and sustain craft in developing countries, we thought it very important to maintain our mantra of working with a team of artisans for Project Eleven27. I came across these beautiful sarees and in my wishes to repurpose them, it just worked so well with this project. These sarees were collected from women across villages and knowing where your Laura Siegel piece has come from and the story behind it, is very important to us.

Project Eleven27 is growing, what creative endeavors are on the horizon?

We want to continue Project Eleven27 by creating new items with reused material. This project is not only a memory of the lives lost, but a way to bring awareness on how we avoid this in the future. We want to focus all our efforts on how we can move forward from this tragedy. Our next item to develop will involve recycle tablecloths. One of our techniques involves block printing, and we cover our tables with tablecloths. We use to throw the tablecloths away, but we realized the continuous block print creates a very organic looking piece of art. So we save them all now and will be using them for future product!

How does travel inspire Project Eleven27?

I am always seeking inspirations wherever I travel. I?m just as inspired by my friends travel photos and stories as my own. Hearing and see about artisan communities in developing countries is a constant reminder of our founding principles; to work with individuals to support their culture and craft. Which is exactly what we?re doing by working with a family of hand weavers in Bhujodi, India to develop our Project Eleven 27 scarves.

How do you envision Project Eleven27 educating and securing the future of the victims' lives?

Project Eleven27 wishes to bring awareness to the garment industry to begin the movement of fostering change in this industry. In addition to this, we want to ensure that the victims in the affected area of Bangladesh are being cared for in the best possible manner. We want to focus on moving forward; we need to learn and understand our faults to be able to progress from here to prevent such adversities in the future.

Tell us about your favorite scarf (or one of them).

I love to design pieces that are comfortable and create a home for the body. I?m always thinking of this when I design scarves. So my favorite scarf would be my silk-cotton scarf that is made double the size; it?s basically like a huge blanket! I can just cocoon myself in it and feel like I?m sitting in the comfort of my home!

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