Handmade Stories is a female-owned slow fashion brand and social enterprise that supports women in rural communities in the Andes, artisans, and men in prison in Peru so they can reach economic independence and keep their traditions alive.

Welcome Elena! Would you introduce yourself and handmade stories? 

Hi! Thank you for having me 🙂 A bit about me… I used to be a strategist in advertising agencies and working for global brands such as Nissan, British Airways, Tesco, BT, EE, and Eurostar. I used to be in charge of building brands, managing the customer experience thought the customer life cycle, launching new products to market, and all things marketing and brand related! 

In January 2020 I realised my job didn’t fulfil me anymore and it was having a huge impact on my mental health, so I decided to quit and go volunteering for a while. As history will remember 2020, a global pandemic came upon us and I found myself in quarantine in a foreign country, Peru. Long story short, I decided to stay and start a business to support local women and artisans who were hit hard by the effect of the pandemic. And that’s how Handmade Stories was born!

What’s the mission and purpose behind your business? 

My mission is to support each group so they can have their own source of income. This not only includes giving them work, but also supporting them in setting up their own local businesses so they can be completely independent, even from me. As well as indigenous women in rural communities in the Andes, I now also work with other marginalised artisans and men in prison to provide them with a fair income under the WFTO’s guidelines.

This also allows them to maintain their traditions and for other members of the community to learn them and pass them on. It also allows them to work from home and stay in their communities with their families instead of having to migrate to the cities to find low paying jobs and leaving their homes behind.The United Nations found that when women work they invest 90% of their income back into their families, compared to 35% for men. There are a lot of positive outcomes when women have their own income: less domestic violence, more children in school, more women investing in their own education, and more women able to access healthcare.

Why didn’t you just start a standard fashion brand? 

I ask myself this every time things get tough! It would have been so much easier to import products in bulk from China! For me it all comes back to my values. I’m used to working for brands that put profits over people, and I found that that had a profound impact on my mental health because my job didn’t align with my values, so that was creating internal friction.

The world and the way we live, the things we give value to, right now are far from what I’d like them to be. I’d like to live in a world where we put people’s livelihoods before our own gain, and where we value people’s time and skill, regardless of their level of education and ethnicity (this is an issue in British organisations as well). I would like people to support people more, and to value people over material things.

If I can contribute to shift mindsets even a little bit in my lifetime, even if it’s just the people around me and the people I work with, then I’m content.

I know every person who makes my products. I’ve been to their homes, I’ve shared meals with them and their families. And I know that if this business takes off it can have a huge impact not only on them, but on whole communities.

Building a community, not just a company which people purchase from, is what every business owner wants to do. You’ve done something really innovative with your change makers series to bring your community to the fore. Can you tell us a bit more about it? 

The change makers’ series is a platform for customers to raise awareness of issues that affect them but are not often talked about. This is an opportunity to give them a voice and start a conversation, and hopefully make other people see they are not alone in what they are experiencing. Topics customers have covered so far include mental health, living with hidden disabilities, and dealing with getting a positive BRCA1 diagnosis. 

I put artisans and customers at the forefront of my business, making sure I listen to them and their needs are met.

For me the most valuable things in my organisation are the people who make the products, and the people who buy them. Without either of them, there’s no business. So for me it makes sense to treat them as best as I can, to take their opinions and needs into consideration.

How’s the response been? What have you learnt? 

I’ve had a very positive response both from the customers doing the interviews and the people reading them.

It has helped me build a more personal relationship with my customers, learn about their struggles and the issues they care about, and involve them in company decisions. In turn, they are more involved with the brand and feel part of it, rather than just being spectators.

People who read the interviews like learning more about the topics, being able to get in touch with the interviewees, and also seeing how they wear and style the clothes they’ve bought from Handmade Stories. It’s not the same seeing a model wear an outfit than different people with different body types.

What advice would you give to other purpose-led brands who want to take a similar community-building approach?

I would tell them to go back to their values and really think about why they want to do it. Don’t do a gimmicky approach or copy what others are doing in the hope to get sales.

With everything you do you need to be true to yourself and your values, that’s why people will buy from you rather than someone else. And that’s how you’ll build a powerful community that believes and cares about what you’re doing.

Find an approach that works for you and is true to your brand.

Find out more about Handmade Stories - and shop their products - on their website and follow them on instagram.