Coconut refers to the Coconut tree fruit or the whole palm tree that bears this fruit.  The word dates back to the 16th century and is derived from the Spanish and Portuguese word coco, meaning ‘head’ or ‘skull’ because of the palm’s hard shelled fruit’s resemblence with it. Before the name coconut, it was referred by the name ‘Nux Indiaca’ given by Marco Polo in the 13th century meaning Indian Nut.

 

Originated in Indian-Indonesian regions, Coconut Palm holds tremendous economic and cultural significance in South Asian region particularly in India. Called ‘Kalpa Vriksha’ or ‘tree of life’,  its versatility has led to several innovative ways in which it has been fulfilling the needs of the societies in India. Its uses range from industrial, building construction, culinary, and beauty to healthcare. The coconut fruit itself has several useful elements such as coconut water, kernel or ‘copra’, hard shell and the husk. Use of various parts of the fruit or the tree resulted in skills that got evolved over a period of the time, reflecting the culture in unique way.

 

Close to 75% of global coconut production comes from tropical Asia with Indonesia, Phillipines and India contributing the most. This has led to coconut crafts in India that creates several utility and decorative items from coconut shells or husk. Within India, Kerala has the largest number of cooconut trees making coconut inextricably interwoven with the lives of people. Interestingly, Kerala, for several reasons, have been able to remain insulated from the technology and modernization to preserve the natural envoronment and its cultural traditions earning itself the title of ‘God’s Own Country’. Kerala, hence, is foremost in coconut craft among other

Indian states like, Tamil Nadu and other coastal states and have abundance of skilled artisans specializing in coconut crafts. Within Kerala, Coconut shell and woodcraft are primarily prevalent in and around Calicut, Trivandrum, Attingal, Neyyatinkara and Quilandy in Kozhikode. The coconut crafts involve processes such as

sketching, cutting, sanding, and buffing to create the fine jewlery and mostly done using hand tools and some basic machines operated manually.

 

The traditional craft and natural material make magical fashion for modern women and men. Jewelry made from coconut material provide the tremendous artistic value of alternative but urbane taste and help get noticed.

While the organic, original beauty of crafted jewellery from coconut stands out, the shells and the coir are very strong materials that last longer than some of the metals. It is also believed to have some mystical health benefits if regularly used. The fulfilment is in contributing to making this world a better place

by supporting an ecological and ethnic cause.

 

Coco Moco is committed to the purpose of nature and culture.

It presents carefully curated coconut fashion with designs that have universal, contemporary appeal but made using traditional craft and organic material. Thus, it connects artisans to fashionistas. While coconut is central to the idea of Coco Moco, the collection include other eco-friendly material such as bamboo, clay, jute and other medicinal plants such as Rudraksh and Tulsi.

 

Buy Ecowear. Go Coco Moco.