Angmu crocheting our Buddha Eye bracelet at the Lotus Sky studio in Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal!

ARE YOUR WRISTS ETHICAL?

When we think of "ethical production" and "responsible business" we often think about quality wages, healthy work environment, and a supportive culture. And those things are definitely important aspects to the New Fair Trade movement!

But have you ever considered whether the companies selling you bracelets (or any jewelry and fashion products) have the RIGHTS to those designs? Are the companies from whom you are buying the true original authors and designers of their products?  If they are not, do they have the rights to the designs they are selling?

If they don't, unfortunately, consumers who truly CARE about responsible business may be unknowingly supporting theft.

Often times, when we think about copyrights and infringement, we think about BIG companies with BIG money fighting battles with one another. But the reality is that in most cases, it is small businesses and the people at the heart of them that are having their work stolen out from right under them. Sometimes it is by other small businesses...more often than not, it is by much larger companies.

When a company, large or small, steals from the original artists, they are fundamentally NOT participating in true fair trade.  It is not fair trade if you are stealing the design- even if you send a design to a manufacturer and "fairly compensate" them for making the bracelet, you stole the design from the person who designed it- from the person who put their heart, hard work and creative talents into creating that piece of art.

As an ethical consumer and a champion of small business, women's empowerment and radical transparency, YOU can help stop this by doing your research, asking questions, educating your friends and larger community AND speaking up when you see a small business being hurt and stolen from. 

Here at Lotus Sky, we are first and foremost a DESIGN studio.  It is important to realize that most of the "Nepal Bracelets" swimming around on the web today come from one or two big dealers in Nepal who simply copy designs that they have not created and then farm out labor to village women who are just trying to make ends meet. 

It is also very sad to realize that so many American companies purchase from these dealers knowing that they are not fair trade, even as they turn around and market the bracelets to their customers as "fair trade."  There is no possible way for a bracelet crafted using crochet beadwork techniques to be fair trade if it cost $1 or even $2!  It is even more sad that so many of these American companies take photos from designers, like us, to then have these cheap dealers manufacture stolen designs.  

At Lotus Sky, we MUST emphasize the difference that we stand for.  Not a single Lotus Sky bracelet is mass produced.  Not a single Lotus Sky bracelet represents a stolen design.  Rather, each Lotus Sky design is carefully handcrafted in small batches to last a lifetime by a true member of the Lotus Sky team.  We are a collective of strong (and getting stronger) women who put a TON of creative energy and care into developing new designs that represent a global aesthetic and are eye-catching and sometimes unexpected!  

Together, we have the power to help keep the "ethical" in "ethical business!" At Lotus Sky ®, our commitment and promise to you is that each and every bracelet we offer is an original creation of the Lotus Sky ® studio in Nepal with unambiguous authorship and design. We promise to protect you from unknowingly supporting theft and promise to keep your wrists 100% ethical from the bracelet at the top of your stack to the bracelet at the bottom!

Thank you!

Now, over the course of the past couple of months, certain sold-out bracelets from our Chic Neutrals and Noir bracelet collections have been requested again and again by our awesome customers.  It is absolutely impossible to keep every single Lotus Sky design in stock as we have authored literally THOUSANDS of designs, however, we have bundled the most requested into a neat little collection with a little treat for you:

Buy 3, Get 1 Free on ALL bracelets in the "Back by popular demand" collection with code:  BACKAGAIN.

Simply click HERE to start your new collection!