Over the weekend I had the privilege of attending the California Gift Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The gift show is a place for wholesalers to showcase and introduce new products to retailers from all over the world. From bath and beauty to food, cosmetics, jewelry and more, there was plenty to see and plenty to be inspired by!

One of the areas that particularly interested me was the downstairs Kentia Hall “Global Marketplace”. This entire downstairs hall is dedicated to exhibitors who source their products from artisans around the world that practice fair trade and socially conscious business methods. It is boasted as “one the largest collection of Fair Trade Federation exhibitors in the country”. It was incredible to see how bustling the marketplace was,  a sign that retailing is changing and we are becoming a society interested in supporting our global communities through Fair Trade.

One of the organizations I discovered through the exhibit was “Global Handmade Hope“, a retail store located in Park Ridge, Illinois. Opening it’s doors in 2009, they focused primarily on handmade goods specifically from East Africa but have now branched out to carry items from Columbia and South Africa. Their mission is simple: to provide an outlet for artisans from developing countries to wholesale their goods and build a network of Fair Trade partners, increasing their opportunities for a better life.

Global Handmade Hope  has a great online shop where you can purchase some of their artisan crafted products. Here are a few of my favorites from the site:

This beautiful “Wayuu Mochila Bag” from Columbia. Each bag is handcrafted to order and takes 20 days to complete:

This colorful Yoga Bag from Rwanda:

And this amazingly vibrant Wax Print Duffle bag, also from Rwanda. Check out that print, isn’t it gorgeous?

Global Handmade Hope also carries clothing, stationary, baby and kids products, and even corporate gifts! So don’t forget that there is a huge market of Fair Trade artisans with beautiful, unique, handmade goods ready for your support.