Locals World
Locals World is a creative studio and private collective connecting designers, artisans, and conscious brands through storytelling, design, and community.
Founded by Valerie Jana, Locals World began as a passion for connection — bridging culture, craft, and community city by city. What started as a travel platform has evolved into a bi-coastal creative studio producing digital guides, curated collaborations, and brand partnerships that highlight the human stories behind design.
Today, Locals World operates as both a publishing platform and collective — featuring curated gift guides, city-based collaborations, and designer partnerships across our website and social channels. Each project is rooted in reciprocity and creativity, designed to amplify women-led and artisan-driven brands with meaning and style.
Our focus is not mass tourism — it’s intentional presence.
We believe in the power of place: how a boutique, a studio, or a handmade object carries the essence of its community.
Locals World Studio serves as the home for these stories — offering creative direction, partnership opportunities, and editorial collaborations for aligned brands and designers.
Meanwhile, Locals Closet opens the door to capsule collections, curated racks, and in-person experiences where our community of muses, designers, and conscious travelers meet.
Together, we are redefining what it means to be “local” — not bound by geography, but connected through creativity, integrity, and shared purpose.
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Where we are now: Based in CT/ New York, expanding West.
Latest release: The Chicago City Guide — now live on our shop.
Interested in partnering? Request to join our network: create@locals-world.com
The Team
Mish B. Photographed at Hotel Esme in South Beach
Our Mission:
Where creativity meets connection — linking makers, brands & communities across coasts and cultures
Our mission is to cultivate human connection through creativity — bridging designers, artisans, and conscious brands with the communities that inspire them.
We believe home is not a destination but a resonance — found in the hands that make, the stories that sustain, and the cultures that connect us.
Through storytelling, design, and intentional partnerships, we help brands and makers express their deeper purpose and invite audiences to experience the beauty of authenticity and belonging.
At the heart of Locals World is transformation — empowering creators and communities alike to step into their higher potential, because the world deserves nothing less.
At the heart of Locals World is transformation — helping each of us step into our higher selves, because the world deserves nothing less.
What we do
Locals World is a creative studio and collective connecting designers, artisans, and conscious brands with the communities that inspire them.
We craft editorial storytelling, brand collaborations, and curated guides that bring local culture to life — from coast to coast.
Through strategic partnerships and design direction, we help emerging brands expand their reach with integrity — aligning purpose with presentation, and story with style. Our work lives at the intersection of creativity and connection, blending visual storytelling, curation, and human insight to build brands that resonate deeply.
In collaboration with our community of muses and makers, we publish seasonal gift guides, city features, and digital collections that spotlight women-led and artisan-driven businesses around the world. Each piece, product, and partnership reflects our belief that creativity is community — and that true value lies in authenticity, not volume.
Through Locals Closet, our fashion and lifestyle arm, we curate capsule collections, pop-ups, and in-person experiences that connect conscious consumers with designers who create with intention.
At its heart, Locals World is a movement toward meaningful commerce — one that bridges culture, craft, and community through storytelling and design.
Why We’re Here
To redefine connection through creativity.
To strengthen local economies by uplifting artisan and women-led brands.
To bridge designers, communities, and conscious consumers.
To create beauty with purpose, story, and soul.