Since 2009, Brooklyn-based social enterprise ARTICLE22 has been an artistic and business vector to market for Peacebomb Jewelry co-created with rural artisans in Laos. Working together, ARTICLE22 brought their brilliant local innovation transforming Vietnam War bombs and scrap into soup spoons to the global market through a bracelet, and today, a full collection of meaningful jewelry that advances Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, that’s contributing to it’s NGO partner MAG (Mines Advisory Group - https://www.maginternational.org) to clear some of the 80 million unexploded bombs contaminating Laos and pursuing sustainable development through a trade not aid model with artisan partners.
The brand celebrates stories of transformation and makes quantifiable impact. Peacebomb Jewelry has come to speak for itself. Because it is a physical piece of history and positive transformation – bombs turned into powerful symbols of love and hope – it resonates with the personal and social messages of those committed to living and wearing their values. Like a blank canvas, we custom engrave select pieces with individual handwritten messages at events like Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway or the NY Fashion Week sustainability and ethics side event we organized with the Human Rights Foundation in 2018 “WEAR YOUR VALUES” (see attachements) where ARTICLE22 offered live custom engraving.
WEAR, SHARE, TRANSFORM : Inspired by Muhammed Yunus and the power of social business to solve problems, we founded and named ARTICLE22 after the 22nd article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Rather than rely on the non-profit donor model, ARTICLE22 is built on a self-sustaining foundation, promotes collective effort, and nourishes shared success. Our artisan partners are agents of change rather than passive recipients of charity. Each of our customers turn fashion into impact by wearing and sharing the story.
In 2019, ARTICLE22 developed the Transformation Story Series with ambassadors and community leaders - artists, social entrepreuners, activists - making their own impact across: sustainability, human rights, arts & culture, and wellness. Brand collaborator and humanitarian photographer Giles Duley’s TED talk about the power of storytelling to provoke social change has been a catalyst for the series comprised of inspiring interviews and sometimes accompanied by custom pieces – bracelets, necklaces, and pins – engraved with the mantras of brand ambassadors. This collection already includes Maya Penn, 19 year old environmental advocate and sustainable fashion entrepreneur (and 3x TED Talk presenter), Ryann Richardson, Miss Black America, and Nobel Prize Nominee Amanda Nguyen, Massive Attack x Giles Duley for Legacies of War Foundation, and musicians from the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, among others. ARTICLE22 is also discussing with NYC-based Pen and Brush Gallery to create a collection inspired by emeging and well-established female artists in celebration of the gallery’s 125th anniversary, which would be included in the brand story series. Using art and design as vectors for transformation, each collaboration demonstrates the intersectional approach needed to make a more sustainable and equitable world.