The Fashion Brand That Helps Peruvian Dams

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Don't be fooled by the name. The garments of this super modern and chic Danish brand are elegant, simple, with classic lines and pastel colors, but above all with a heart. We spoke to its founders, Veronica and Louise, who have created a unique business model with which, in addition to making more than appealing and timeless garments, they help women incarcerated in Cuzco earn a living wage and find motivation in their day-to-day life. Don't miss her different and inspiring fashion story.

How and when did you come up with this business idea?

A few years ago I was living in Kenya working with an organization that distributed the menstrual cup to African women who cannot afford intimate hygiene products. I became interested in why the women in Nairobi were in prison and what that prison was like, what they were doing in there and how they could get out. I spoke to a prison manager and went to visit her.

What were your first impressions?

It was very obvious that the reason [those women] were there was related to poverty: drug trafficking, prostitution, most of them were from the countryside and had a very low level of education, and when they got out of prison they were even poorer. than when they entered. I also realized that this was happening around the world and that there was a very rapid increase in the number of women incarcerated in developing countries and my entrepreneurial side thought that if you can contribute with education, design and good materials you can transform those years into Prison in good jobs, with a fair salary, new skills and having something to get up for every morning, but also the opportunity to support yourself and your family and save for when you go out. This is how it all started.

Why do you decide to start Peru?

I tried to start in Nairobi, but couldn't find the country's natural materials that I could work with. For this to be a success, I had to create a product that people really want to have, not buy it out of grief or to help someone. Many of these countries with high poverty rates also have fantastic natural materials and [textile] traditions, handicrafts that have been passed down especially between women from generation to generation. So I went back to Denmark and started looking for destinations that had very high rates of incarcerated women combined with the best materials in the world and craft traditions. And so,Peru was at number one on my list for alpaca wool and at the same time because Peru has many women who have been victims of drug trafficking and who have sentences of between 5 and 17 years and are also the best weavers in the world.

How did the project start there?

I met with the president of the Peruvian prison system and he thought it was great. Basically he said he needed the private sector to step up and do good jobs. I traveled through Peru with my family visiting prisons and I decided to start in Cuzco because alpaca comes from there and there is a tradition of working with homemade machines. This is how we started in Peru.

Did you always know that you wanted to make this alpaca track suit and t-shirts?

No. Thank goodness I'm not alone. I had the idea and I have a lot of initiative, but my partner, Louise, is the designer. After my first trip to Peru I said “do you want to take a look at this? She is very good with luxury products and I knew she wanted to do something that really represents Danish design, which is of very good quality, is not subject to 30 second fashions and is built to last and she is terrific at it. Then he accepted and she designs everything.

Only one year after the creation of the Cárcel brand is on sale at Net à Porter, how did you do it?

It's great! We started selling our product last August at Copenhagen Fashion Week and we are a company that tries to do things differently in many ways: not only do we produce in prison, we also don't have seasons, we sell directly to the consumer online, we try eliminate waste in our production chain by manufacturing only small batches when customers order them. It is a different way of doing fashion and it is fantastic that a company as big and as far reaching as net à porter accepts a brand that works in a different way. It gives us a very large platform and obviously the more demand we have we can give more women jobs.

What is the next step for Jail?

Now we are starting in Thailand to work with silk, starting in the chiang mai prison and in the next few weeks we are going to start production. My idea is to expand the brand to some 5 countries with its 5 fabrics and craft traditions and build a brand that people can trust for its quality and value and demonstrate that it can be commercially successful and have a social impact at the same time and that other companies see that the model works and join the movement for change. Cool and ethical alternatives are lacking.

Is sustainability important to your brand?

It is the essence of who we are. When you start from scratch it is a luxury because you do not have to reinvent machinery, it is a luxury and a responsibility. The fashion industry is one of the most polluting and that has to change. My goal is to create a production chain that is about solving problems rather than creating them.