Fashion Fights Poverty Charm & Lapel Pin

Thank you to Evelyn Brooks for sending this to the Punch and for generously donating her time and creativity to the mission of Fashion Fights Poverty.  Proceeds from sales of the charms and lapel pins will go to the charity.  I personally have a Sun charm which I wear on a necklace and love it (see below).

The Fashion Fights Poverty Charm and lapel pin, was the brain child of a generous and talented DC-based jewelry designer named Evelyn Brooks, who in 2007 received the "Outstanding Artist Achievement Award" by Empowered Women International.

She designed the lapel pin and charm and she found inspiration from her Peruvian heritage.  Evelyn hand crafted a distinctive charm/pendant made out of high-quality silver and adorned with a uniquely colored huayruro seed. The charm/pendant reflect Evelyn’s Moschik collection, which feature abstracts lines & geometric figures bringing style modern men & women.

The “Sun charm” is a circular design which represents the "God Sun". The Inca’s believed in the God Sun who stood for strength and wisdom, bringing light, protection and beauty to the world. The Incas were deeply religious people. They feared that evil would befall at any time.

This year Evelyn Brooks is bringing back the limited edition Tumi charm (see right). The limited edition “Tumi charm”, When the Splendor of the Moche, a Pre-Inca civilization, governed old Peru, 1,500 years ago, the Tumi represented the famous ceremonial Golden knife used for trepanation (opening of the skull) and ritual ceremonies. Today the Tumi is considered a Peruvian symbol for good luck. For the FFP charm Evelyn used the blade: rounded, half-moon shaped end of the tumi. A ceremonial knife called the Tumi, shaped similarly to a huayruro seed, also informs the design and gives a fight-to-the-finish spirit to the charm.

What is huayruro? The huayruro (why-ru-row) seed is native to Central and South American countries. It has many species and depending on the country can also have many different names: Tintoria (Brazil); Cairuro (Columbia); and Huayro (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador). The huayruro seed symbolizes good luck, protection against negative energy, happiness and fertility. It is also used in religious ceremonies in the Peruvian Andes region, aptly named Huayruro. Amazonians use the seed to handcraft jewelry and other art.

You can purchase your charm and lapel pin by contacting Evelyn Brooks at:

Email: info@ebrooksdesigns.com
Phone: 571 221 4150