Hecho Por Nosotros : Ancestral Wisdom for Sustainable Fashion

The MSMEs and cooperatives who usually work at the base of textile value chains face many technical and social barriers creating a disconnection with the global value chains. MSMEs lack market access and are not able to integrate and expand their business with the global fashion industry. Lack of transparency in the value chains lead to exploitation of many traditional textiles and indigenous communities through low wages, ignorance of intellectual property rights and no acknowledgement for work.

Hecho Por Nosotros has worked closely with textile communities and actors who are at the base of the camelid fiber value chain in Latin America to understand the technical and social barriers that these cooperatives and MSMEs face. They are working to eliminate any such barriers and bring the communities to the forefront with their exceptional traditional talents.

Development of a transparent and sustainable camelid value chain : By promoting camelids fibers within the textile industry at the regional and local level and implementing sustainable business practices in the sourcing of these fibers while also strengthening community-based natural resource management.

Advocating for a sustainable fashion and textile industry based on the circular economy : Systemic change in the fashion and textile industry, thinking about garments as a whole, analyzing their entire life cycle in order to reduce negative impacts on the social and environmental spheres.

Helping with capacity-building at a regional and global level : They participate in several international platforms such as the UN, WTO, WEF, and G20. Participating in these global dialogues offers a unique opportunity to organize events at the highest political forums as a crucial tool to promote our goals.

They advocate influencing the regional, national, and international leadership to put the fashion industry issues at the center of their attention and work together for a more sustainable future. They aim to achieve the following impacts:

Economic impact: Reinvesting resources in promoting circular fashion and empowering small businesses and artisans.

Environmental impact: Promoting the production processes of camelid fibers which are 100% organic, helping capitalize the animal and plant wealth of the Andean region.

Consumer impact: Introducing new paradigms to positively change consumer behavior by creating awareness of clothes production and process.

Working together: Providing modern commercial principles to artisans and producers, help them recover old techniques, and give them the basis to integrate their business in the fashion global market.

Boosting business innovation: Incorporation of blockchain technology to guarantee complete traceability and allow the clients to build a personal connection with the artisans, improving accountability in the value chain.

In the past ten years, Hecho por Nosotros and animaná have impacted the lives of thousands of artisans through the ability to generate work, as well as teaching about modern design and sustainable production.

It has provided jobs to more than 3,000 artisans by increasing capacity to 364 artisan groups and 27 fiber producers over the last 10 years. Furthermore, it created a business network of 7,500 artisans to integrate them into global markets and trained 1,500 student designers in sustainable fashion.