Fashion Revolution Week - #1 Empowering Women

It’s Fashion Revolution Week, and we want to highlight to you the people responsible for our high quality fashion products, corporate gifts and home goods.

These ladies live in one of the communities in which our work directly impacts. Located Selangor, Malaysia, , this community flat provides housing to hundreds of families, mostly from a very low-income background. Fair trade is the key to empower these women.

The Batik Boutique has worked with this community for the last 2 years. They are incredible women aspiring for a better life. They are wives, mothers and dreamers who hope for  better futures for their kids – the reason they spare no efforts on family and community matters. Their commitment and engagement is remarkable – it’s stamped on their faces, as in a Batik fabric.

(Community flat)

The Batik Boutique provides sewing training and life skills – and many other non-job-related small needs. We realize the difficulty in working a full-time job, caring for children and keeping a house tidy. Learning a new trade, working inside the community, flexible shifts and childcare are very simple measures that make working possible for these women – things you can only learn by asking and listening.

(Ladies being trained)

We are working with a team of international volunteers. They are here to help us to improve our training program, empower the community and bring awareness to our cause. At first, they were concerned: “How would this group of women react to us? We are outsiders that want to teach a completely new trade to them.”. Those concerns faded away within a few minutes after the first encounter. These women are full of energy, very curious and extremely brave – facing industrial sewing machines is a true challenge!

(Ana, in the center, taking a picture with the volunteers)

Ana is one of the new seamstresses. She was very excited about being featured in the Fashion Revolution Week. Even though Ana has basic sewing experience before the training, she joined the classes with great humbleness, helping the other women with difficulties. “I have a small sewing machine at home but had no idea how much more I could do using it.”

Each women has a personal story to tell. Every product they make carries  part of this story. The challenges they face, the better future they will grant due to their work. Some of these women have never worked  before. Others have never dreamed of  doing something different than what they have done for their entire lives. Learning, interacting and earning for it - being part of something that can help many other women discover new possibilities in their lives.

(new seamstresses practicing)

Your purchasing has power.   It can be used to give hope to people doing the hard work behind the scene who do everything they can to support their families. And by supporting ethical products and companies, you have the opportunity to create value to the people and stories behind the products.