Brand Review: SOKO — The Swoop

SOKO is based on this simple but moving idea: For something to be beautiful, the system that created it must also be beautiful.

In my quest to become a better consumer, I can’t stop playing those words on repeat in my mind. In this journey so far, I have become to recognize my naivety when I isolate the end product from the process used to create it, no matter how much I love it or how great it makes me feel/look. And that is what makes SOKO so spectacular: it is a brand working to have beauty at the beginning, middle, and end of artisan jewelry production.

Did you know that artisan craft is the second largest employer in the developing world? However, individuals participating the artisan economy are limited in their economic mobility by minimized access to robust markets outside of their local areas. The artisans growth potential is hindered by multiple factors including product quality, market access, finance, and knowledge of trends. This means that artisans are trapped in microeconomics, with insufficient means to support themselves and their businesses. And yet there is a world of consumers (me! me! me!) interested in the products that these artisans are making...

Enter SOKO, which tries to overcome these issues and provide access to global markets through a virtual factory. Using mobile phones, SOKO is able to connect directly with thousands and thousands of independent artisans in a demand responsive manufacturer model. Through a robust community of artisans, SOKO crowdsources production in order to keep the jewelry both affordable for the consumer and profitable for the artisans. With pieces inspired by architecture and traditional tribal designs and infused with the brand’s signature minimal aesthetic, artisans use heritage practices and locally sourced, eco-friendly materials to make their products. The mobile platform allows artisans to receive orders, manage inventories, and get paid through their phone. Designs, production quality controls, and access to finance help them tap into the broad SOKO network, whose products are stocked in over 400+ businesses around the world.

The jewelry is certainly beautiful and so is the production process and impact. By participating in the SOKO model, artisans are able to build their businesses, improve their production capacity, and sustainably increase income. Kenyan based artisans, SOKO's current main country of operation, who have worked with SOKO have seen their income increased by multiples of 5.

See below for some classic, timeless pieces crafted to love. With their accessible price point, I’m definitely bookmarking many of these as awesome options for presents (for other people and also obviously for myself) in the near future.

ONE: I love a pendant necklace. I seem to find a reason to wear a version of pendant necklaces most days, and I would love to add this dark one into my rotation. It would look amazing layered with other necklaces as well.
TWO: This is the type of bracelet that I know if I bought it, I would feel INSTANTLY cooler wearing. Whenever I needed to feel a bit hipper than I am (to be clear, I'm pretty bottom of the barrel when it comes to the hip department...) but I would most certainly reach for this dynamite cuff to complete my look.
THREE: Growing up, my mother had a silver pair of earrings I used to idolize that look strikingly similar to these (my sister and I called them her kiss earrings, either because we were hungry for hershey kisses or bad at name things). Even if these don't remind you of yo' momma, their slick minimalism will be at home in any wardrobe.
FOUR: I can't stop with the big gold rings. The way that this ring mimics the contours of the finger is so crush worthy it has done the impossible and beat out all the other contenders to make it to the top my list-- and at this price, it might be even more impossible to say no.
FIVE: Other horn earrings I have drooled over have been so depressingly out of my price range- BUT THESE are affordable, stunning, and positively impactful in the lives of those who made them. Let the outfit planning begin!
SIX: Excellent present alert! You can get this bangle monogrammed with a friend's initial (or maybe their husband to be's or new baby's) for thoughtful gift that will earn you serious friend credit.

As always, here are the ways in which SOKO is doing more: