The Twitten Fair-Trade Knitwear for Holiday 2015

Happy Thanksgiving week to all!  If hand-made, fair-trade knitwear with a sense of humor is your thing for Holiday/Winter 2015/16, we think we've got just the ticket: The Twitten.

Six winters ago, “Twitten” debuted as a “fun-of-a-kind” solution to bring romance, affection AND warmth to couples worldwide. Twitten® was the original solution to keeping warm while holding hands in the cold. And two seasons back, it caused a sensation in a whimsical heart and hand-warming segment on ABC’s Good Morning America you can watch here:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/dogs-comfort-newtown-twitten-made-couples-gma-pop-18004458

Each year, Twitten debuts new and revives classic knitwear for singles, kids, couples and now, for baby. This season’s collection now includes premium hats, scarves, fingerless gloves, mittens, texting gloves, legwarmers and a fun new babies’ and kids’ line—all fair trade and hand-knit in 100% alpaca or alpaca blend in Peru. Available at boutiques nationwide and at www.thetwitten.com, Twitten features contemporary styles in bold stripes and subtle solids with knit accents and decorations, embroidery and appliques. Consciously designed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the entire Twitten line is sustainably crafted by small family-owned businesses and traditional women’s cooperatives high in the Peruvian Andes under the supervision of Twitten’s Artisan Initiative Program.

This season, Twitten invites you to fight “Frigophobia”—the fear of becoming too cold—with: mittens; gloves; texting gloves and mittens, fingerless gloves, scarves, hats, scarfhats and leg warmers. For the kids, Twitten’s got the season’s biggest thing: animal hoods with unicorns, fairies and enchanted hedgehogs. Twitten for baby accessories are arriving shortly, with a alpaca bouclé “baby bag” in cream/natural white among the first arrivals, followed by bonnets, dresses,

tops/bottoms and onesies. Co-Founder and Twittener-in-Chief Connie Kaiserman promises, “[they are] so soft, cozy and warm, and so much better than a blanket because they can’t get kicked off or rolled out of.” A premium product, the original Twitten retails at $44; kids’ mittens start at $15 and adult mittens are on sale at $25.20. Leg warmers are $29. A complete list of the season’s products, fabrics, colors and patterns—as well as real people wearing the accessories under real conditions is online at www.thetwitten.com. 

Links to many photos of this season’s collection are here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6jw37w3v2n6ppne/AAB7MtIYkDIEDiQziiCfSCmua?dl=0

Where the heck did Twitten come from? It started as a unique two-handed (conjoined) mitten couples can wear while holding hands to stay snug and warm. Co-founder Connie Kaiserman knitted her first Twitten for boyfriend (and subsequent husband of many years!) Steve Robinson so they could hold hands during football games. Several decades and professions later, Kaiserman met Jennifer Isaacson, who had spent a lifetime sourcing materials all over the world and designing everything from textiles to furniture. Together they launched Twitten.

Twitten LLC is 100% women-owned and operated. The entire Twitten Line is Fair Trade and handcrafted in Peru by artisans whose work supports and sustains traditional communities. As Kaiserman says, “high in the Andes, women are knitting beautiful accessories for you.”
The Twitten donates 20% of all its profits to the Bodhi Fund, which was created to support underserved New Mexico families whose children are in desperate need of out-of-state cancer treatment. For more information visit www.nmcf.org/?page_id=1239

Entrepreneur and writer Kaiserman, who divides her time between Santa Fe, New York and Greece, says, “We’re tremendously gratified retailers and consumers alike have embraced our ‘Twitten Story.’ While we have made inroads into brick and mortar retail—we‘ve been especially popular in college towns and hip urban and suburban boutiques—we remain a “mom and mom” operation, and we have our own Artisan Initiative program.” In the program, Isaacson teaches young women in Chinchero, Peru how to knit to a high standard and sells the items in the US. Available in very limited quantities, these “Artisan Collection” products can also be made to order.

Twitten burst on the scene as a must-have gift after debuting at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Then, celebrity couples and singles of all stripes embraced the cute, captivating and curious accessory. Celebrities sporting Twitten products have included: George Stephanopoulos; Laura Spencer; Mariel Hemingway; Jesse Williams; Ricki Lake; Audrina Patridge; Ryan Cabrera; Chelsea Handler and Chuy; William Mapother; KayCee Stroh and husband Ben Higginson; Broderick Johnson and his wife “BooBoo;” Sally Kellerman; Candy Spelling; Alan Cumming; Olympic Silver Medalist Jared "Speedy" Peterson; and many others.

Kaiserman concludes, “Twitten represents a college student’s dream come true, and while the original Twitten is silly and fun, our full line is as practical as it is beautiful. We predict a lot more couples, singles, parents and kids are going to be ‘Twittening’ come this fall and winter!”

About THE BODHI FUND 20% of all profits from The Twitten go to the Bodhi Fund. In 2003 Connie and Steve’s four year-old grandson Bodhi was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Because bone marrow transplants are unavailable in the state of New Mexico where Bodhi lived, he and his family traveled to New York City where he underwent a bone marrow transplant at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Today Bodhi is an energetic and irrepressible 16 year-old enjoying life with his younger sister and brother. The Bodhi Fund was created to support New Mexico families whose children are in desperate need of out-of-state cancer treatment. Administered by the New Mexico Community Foundation, the Bodhi Fund provides financial aid to cover mortgage, phone, car, utility and travel expenses at a moment when families are plunged into crisis, both emotionally and financially. www.nmcf.org/?page_id=1239