Transparency
After you read the whole story about how I started with my baby Koua. I skipped one anecdote. When I met the family in Zinacantan one of them told me that she also worked for a fashion designer from Mexico city that has a brand that support women in local communities around Mexico, being noisy I asked more details of the way she worked with her. She told me she was taking the time and paid per hour $20 mxn/ £0.72 on I dress I went to see online that she actually made and cost $15,000 mxn / £545 , really? Is this actually consider sustainable and fair-trade? she also told me they haven't paid her for the last job she made, they own her 20 hours since 3 months ago. I was so upset and disappointed of how people take advantage and use the 'Sustainability and fair-trade' as a marketing tool. After receiving an advise of someone that has been in this industry for long time she told me not to do it in that way and she was right I always get in trouble for speaking the truth directly but I learned that actions show more. I believe the change starts from us and transparency can teach others how to do things right. Our commitment is mainly with our people in towns and the environment this is why we are not afraid of being fully transparent and break down our production costs.
- Fabrics: Most of our fabrics are either organic, recycled or handmade by our people in local towns in Mexico which means that even though they use commercial cotton threads there is no energy involved in the production process because they only use ancestral techniques to weave. Our fabrics cost us between £20 -£30 per meter approx.
- Labour: The best part of our collection is the connection we have created with the people who is helping us to make the collection possible. Also we calculated our payments according to different factors.that will be display soon.
- Transportation: I don't even want to tell you all the long journey the products take to reach you. Coming from local towns to Mexico city where our production admin team is based and they carefully inspection every single piece to check they achieve great quality standard to then ship them all the way to London.