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Two New Orleans business owners are opening a handmade fair trade collective in the French Quarter.

Passion Lilie Beatrix Bell will offer clothing, jewelry, art and more. It’s a collaboration between Passion Lilie, an apparel business launched by Katie Schmidt in 2013, and Beatrix Bell Handcrafted Jewelry, the business that Bell started in 2009.

The women kept their businesses afloat during the pandemic by relying heavily on online sales, a news release said. Now confronting a downturn in the economy, they decided to pivot again and merge their brands and resources.

Bell has sold her handmade jewelry at a studio and shop in Algiers Point, and her designs have been featured at more than 200 stores across the U.S., Japan, Australia and Canada, the release said.

Schmidt, a seamstress who holds degrees in costume design and luxury fashion management, moved to New Orleans in 2011 and opened Passion Lilie two years later.