Fashion Fridays: Art Basel x Haitian Handbags

Words by Jesse Serwer

It’s Art Basel week here in Miami and, befitting an international art event in South Florida—home to one of the largest, if not the largest Haitian expat communities in the U.S—the program, includes the second annual Haiti Art Expo. Among the showcases at the Moore Building in the city’s Design District is the unveiling of “Haiti: Hope for Progress,” a series of photographs by Jordan Michael Zuniga documenting post-earthquake Haitian life, and the ongoing rebuilding efforts. As part of the event, Haitian-born handbag designer Françoise Elizée will showcase a preview of her 2012 collection, which she crafts with exotic lizard, crocodile and python skins. Sales of Zuniga’s photographs and Elizee’s handbags will directly benefit Hard Hats for Haiti, a campaign supporting the Pan American Development Foundation’s Rebuilding Haiti program, a comprehensive plan to rebuild homes, revitalize neighborhoods, and create jobs.