Lara Bazant

by Manuela Gobbato

Understandably, one would be hard pressed to imagine how a jewelry making business located in the Toronto Metropolis can actually help to better the lives of women in underprivileged parts of the world. But that is just where Lara Bazant has taken her company, Bazant Unique Adornments, with 15 years of creating bespoke necklaces, bracelets and earrings using vintage and unique beads.

Lara was one of the first CAWEE women I had the pleasure to get to know over a cup of coffee. I was captivated by both her story and her passion for what she does.

Lara originally got into her craft when living in Pakistan when her father was with the UN. Every Friday there was a market where Afghani refugees sold their works. Inspired by their work, she began collecting pieces from the artisans’ jewelry and started incorporating elements into the jewelry she made. Lara loved talking with them, learning about their stories: where they came from, their customs & traditions, the history of the war in their country, and so on.

She can’t really say when it started but, ultimately, making the jewelry became something she needed to do. This creative outlet was a way for her to survive, to deal with how her freedom had become stifled: because she was living somewhere where, as a woman, she couldn’t do things she was used to doing in North America.

The US embassy in Pakistan was the first place she tried selling her necklaces; that’s where she set up her table of necklaces and bracelets, incorporating the ethnic beads, and they very quickly sold out. She did this over the summer and used some of the money to pay for university at NYU. At that point she viewed her jewelry making as a hobby: it hadn’t dawned on her that this would be a career; it was just something she did.

At NYU, Lara obtained a fine arts degree and continued to make pieces and travel extensively because of her parents’ work. In Egypt, Thailand and Singapore, she kept collecting amazing items for her pieces.

Without really realizing it, what Lara had always done played into the concept of fair trade. Lara obtains items from the artisans who make them, so money goes directly to their pockets. (Lara explains that in the world of jewelry and clothing there is so much we don’t know. Where the products come from? Who does the money go to? And are the people who actually make them able to feed their families?) From the beginning, she was aware of this and made it a point to get her items directly from the artisans. She didn’t know this had the name “fair trade”: it was just what she did.

Lara evolved what had been her hobby into fulltime work when colleagues in the graphic design firm where she worked saw the jewelry she was wearing and wanted her to create things for them. Being commissioned to do things for clients and knowledge that what she was doing had real meaning, gave her renewed interest in her work.

Lara began incorporating vintage items when she became a professional jewelry maker. She thought that the items had to come from a good place – meaning that by using something vintage, something new isn’t being created, but is being repurposed. Lots of costume jewelry from the sixties, items with heavy metals and plastics, will never break down. They’re very durable and long-lasting but the styles are dated, so they can be repurposed for today’s looks. Lara re-fashioned her grandmother’s costume jewelry and she finds that clients often have her do the same with their mother’s or grandmother’s, especially items which have special sentimental value. Lara still loves doing this kind of custom work…working with things that have a story.

Lara has also obtained fair trade elements for her creations from Africa and India where there are great NGOs that promote fair trade. (South America does too, but she hasn’t been there yet.) As an example, ceramic beads from the clay of the Mount Kenya area are very striking. The women have been taught the skills to make the beads by hand and fire and glaze them, and Lara gets them directly from the women so she knows they are making a fair wage. The pieces she creates with these beads are among Lara’s best sellers because of their look and the story behind them, which she happily shares with her customers. The environmental value of the beads is also well in keeping with Lara’s values and vision. Lara loves designing but, being a small business owner, there’s a lot more than designing to be concerned with, so keeping in line with her vision, from all perspectives, keeps her on track.

Because she travelled from an early age, Lara has the travel bug – but not to the beach – rather to 3rd world countries where she meets artisans and sees first-hand the lives they lead. The trip she is taking to Uganda this summer has more significance for her than usual. Initially she is going with volunteers to help to improve education in northern Uganda because their education system has been interrupted by ongoing war. There has been peace there for only the past 3 years so not only do they need help with education and provisions, they also need someone to hear their story – Lara is the perfect candidate. Lara is going with a group from Kirabo Canada, to help with building schools, assisting with English classes, and organizing events. A highlight will be the Kampala Kids Day with children from all over Uganda participating in fun activities, learning together.

The trip furthers Lara’s work as well. There’s a small group of women (the “acholi,” one of the main cultures in northern Uganda) who have established a fair trade initiative making jewelry. Lara wants to see how they have set up and are running their program with the intention of eventually promoting it in other countries where people are in need.

To learn more about Lara’s trip, visit her blog bazantuniqueadornments@blogspot.com


Lara Bazant • Bazant Unique Adornments • www.bazant.ca

For studio appointments and free consultations on custom design, contact Lara at 416-879-6367 or info@bazant.ca