Focus Show | LA Fashion Mart | California Market Center Penthouse
Featuring PariBlossom Bags Collaboration with Bhutanese Group, Ashoka, HomeNet | Photos by Bo Kahn Thanks to Sinee, Poonsap, Ruben, and Chandra for collaborating with Blumpari on product development with the women's co-ops. It was exciting with bring these creations to a broader audience and our first time exhbiting in LA for fashion market week. |
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LA Fashion Mart Focus Show California Market Center Penthouse Trade Show Booth
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Inspiration Blumpari, pronounced "bloom-pari," comes from the designer's Thai given name Parichad, meaning the "eternal heavenly blossoming flower." We at Blumpari believe that every person is eternally blossoming and evolving. Parichad's (Cherry's) mother , Vanida Kwunyeun, was a fashionista and educated American diplomats and foreign service officers on Thai culture and language. Since childhood, Cherry would select fabrics and styles for her mother's atelier to fashion for various events after Vanida could not find appropriate Eurasian style dresses in department stores. This fusion of fashion and culture has continued to inspire Blumpari design. Vanida is pictured left at the King's Birthday celebration and charity event in Washington, DC circa early 80's. She won first place in a beauty and fashion contest, and this is after having two kids! Blumpari's budding social enterprise seeks to link hot designers, micro-financed producers, corporate partners, and savvy consumers to support cultural and economic sustainability globally. Really, we just want everyone to be fabulous and Blumpari accessories are often named after inpiring women and friends.
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Ashoka Changemaker Campus Initiative Meeting Bill Drayton, Founder of Ashoka was great. My advisor and mentor, Melissa Carrier, Executive Director of Center for Social Value Creation, is amazing and made it all happen through the Ashoka Changemaker Campus Initiative. Through the social venture incubation process, we connected with corporate partners and Ashoka Fellows in Asia and USA on development projects. Dean Anand, Smith School of Business Dean, is dedicated to creating positive social impact during his tenure. http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/svc/
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John Bond III and Nina Lee Bond Wedding
Commissioned by Nina Lee Bond to create the award winning Vanda clutches in plum, silver, and black to give as bridesmaids gifts. The wedding took place in the American Visionary Art Museum and was a Silver and Tangerine decedence, which inspired us to create the Melissa Bag in this color palette. This was a personal experience as Nina was a radiant bride, a style muse, and a prep school gal pal. Additionally, Vanda and Nora, two fearless women who we named our bags after, were bridesmaids! Please see the Goddess Collection for more details. Product Photos by Matthew Van Der Molen, www.matthewvandermolen.com
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Dancing with the Stars
Athima Chansanchai of TimaMedia.com and the Technology Industry writer behind "DigiGirl" on MSNBC.com, carried the Nora Hobo in bronze to the Dancing with the Stars Finale and snapped photos with: Natalie Coughlin (DWTS contestant and Olympic gold medalist), Alec (DWTS partner), Cynthia Wang (Editor at People Magazine in LA), and Nancy. Please see Nouveau Natural Collection for more details on the Nora Hobo. Check out Athima's MSN blog at: "DigiGirl" on MSNBC.com and TimaMedia.com
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Green & Fair Trade Festival We were invited to participate in the Green/Fair Trade fashion show at the Green Festival in the DC Convention Center. Pictured left are shots from the runway, backstage, and our tradeshow booth. Photos by Jason Downes |
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Khloe & Kourtney Kardashian
Meeting Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian at their book signing for Kardashian Konfidential was fun. There were so many people and cameras! I gave them the Melissa bag in tangerine and the golden blossom bag and hope they like them. I was quite nervous and hardly remember what I uttered and almost forgot to give them the gifts! The Melissa in Tangerine and Silver is made with faux leather and appropriate for animal friendly Khloe, while the blossom bag is made by mothers at home who create these bags as supplemental income while caring for their children and appropriate for new mom Kourtney. BTW Dolls, the sisters are super fabulous and beautiful in person!
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Blumpari: Winner of NYC Design Competition for "Most Socially Responsible Handbag" We are honored to have won the Independent Handbag Designer Awards for this category and hope to spread awareness and beauty. The ceremony at the New York Historical Society and reception at the UK Consulate General's penthouse with LuLu Guiness was a blast!!! The Vanda clutch is named after my childhood gal pal, Vanda, who is in international healthcare. The fabric is handwoven jacquard silk in mangosteen color and was purchased from an artisan while on a medical mission in northern Thailand. Working with our corporate partner, Jacob, this material was transformed into an elegant clutch that packs flat yet can expand to hold water bottle, Iphone, camera, emergency chocolate etc..
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Independent Handbag Designer Awards 2010 with InStyle at Parsons It was fun going back to Parsons where I took my first accessories design class and to see the new crop of winners. Carlos Falchi was also there and he was kind to offer congrats to Blumpari the year before. This event was packed with over 400 people and some fun InStyle swag bags for all. Emily was glittery gold and Melissa was also fierce in a modern dress. |
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Meeting Tim Gunn, of Project Runway It was exciting to meet Tim Gunn and get his tips on how to look professional, and still look like a woman. Often times, women sacrifice their inner chic in order to be work place appropriate. Blumpari bridges the gap by creating accessories that are not only appropriate for the office, but also do not force women to deny their inner goddess. La Dolce Vita!!!
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Connie Chung, Purchases the "May Clutch" Connie Chung spotted our handbag display and was kind enough to purchase one at a fundrasing event. It was an honor to meet a woman who's career centered on bringing visibility to others' stories from around the world!! May Clutch Pictured Left: Please see Nouveau Natural Collection for more details. Photo by Mike Morgan Photography
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LA Shoot in Santa Monica of Blumpari: Day-Eve | Casual-Formal
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Style Max Show Chicago Mart Merchandise Market & Mart Bldg Marty Buss Showroom Photos by Amie Photography |
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Miss. District of Columbia, USA 2009
We are proud to be an official sponsor of Joy Hodges, Miss. District of Columbia. She is the ultimate combination of brains, beauty, and heart. By day she works in finance and governance for the government, and in her spare time visits orphanages and competes in pageants. Joy has been a wonderful spokesmodel for our organization and we wish her all the best!!! Florence and Nora Bags Pictured Above: Please see Nouveau Natural Collection for more details. Photos by Matthew Van Der Molen
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"Visual Pinball" | www.VisualPinball.org
Blumpari website layouts and content were used in eyetracking test for usability testing and content memory. The findings were presented at the Frontiers in Services Conference, Hawaii which is organized by the Center for Excellence in Service, American Marketing Assoc., and IBM. Reasources: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/ces/ www.rhsmith.umd.edu/behaviorlab/ For more information and other studies: www.visualpinball.org
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Kiny Bis Boutique of Georgetown
Kiny, store owner, is a fashionista and strong woman! Pictured Above: PariSak, Nora Hobo, May Clutch, and Hilary Bag.
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Visibility We give visibility to our partners by bring our creations to a broader audience ie:NYC,DC,CA,IL. Pictured left are some products from our recent collaboration with a Bhutanese Refugee group with the help of Chandra and Ruben.
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X-treme Management Dean Pat Cleveland is a wonderful mentor to me during both undergraduate and graduate studies. She is a creative weaver of people, places, and opportunities and organized a seminar with Mr.Schulte, a 9/11 hero who was in charge of rescue logistics. |
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Medical Mission & Rural School Project
As an advisor for this project, it was gratifying to see water filtration units installed in Nothern Thailand as part of a medical mission between Thai Physicians Association of America and Rotary International. The children shared with us that they could taste an immediate difference in the water. I hope that some of you will consider joining us on outreach efforts.
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Alternative Spring Break Program Donor We are pleased to have donated to UMCP Alternative Spring Break Program, which supports students who chose to do community service during their spring break. It was touching to hear students share with us how the experience was "A Becoming" and to connect with Phi Sigma Pi, the national community service organization. Hilary Bag is in this photograph.
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