About this project

WHAT IS VOZ?

VOZ, “voice” in Spanish, is a project that uses design innovation to aid indigenous artisans out of poverty by connecting them to the fashion industry. Starting in Southern Chile with a community of Mapuche weavers, urban fashion designers and master weavers will collaborate to produce modern, sustainable fashion accessories that both represent their ethnic culture and appeal to the mainstream boutique market. Voz empowers artisans professionally, financially and creatively.

INSPIRATION:

VOZ is a project born out of the desire to use design to empower indigenous, rural poor artisans, and promote hand-made, meaningful craftwork in an era of mass-production. It is also a project dedicated to rethinking and expanding the current niche around ethnic fair trade fashion.  We are committed to pairing cutting-edge design innovation principles with ethical production, ecologically-pristine practices, an design workshops that incorporate artisans’ ideas into final products.

COLLABORATIVE WORKSHOPS:

VOZ’ design philosophy and production is based on meaningful cultural collaboration.  We achieve this through design workshops where artisans and urban fashion designers work together to generate prototypes that honor indigenous styles and techniques, but appeal to the modern women and mainstream boutique market in quality and design.

PROTECT THE PLANET:

VOZ commits to sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices. Every part of the weaving process, from the natural wool to the local plant dyes, comes from replenishable resources.  We apply these high standards to all of the materials we use, selecting those with minimal impact.

KICKSTARTING:

VOZ needs your help getting started!  While we secure funding for the year, we are asking for our community’s support for the most pressing needs crafting our first line.  We have already completed two years of market research, and we’ve tested our prototypes at trade shows 2010 in Chicago, LA, and San Francisco. Our designs have been met with great enthusiasm at every turn.  Your investment now can help make our dream a reality. Specifically, your support will help with minimal travel expenses (bus fares for weavers and the VOZ team to visits to local manufacturers to insure our materials are ethically produced). However, most of the money from this campaign will go directly into materials: natural wool, berry and plant dyes, paying weavers and seamstresses fair trade wages for their help in creating our first line. Should we succeed, we dream of dedicating the next decade to its growth both in Chile and in other indigenous communities around the world.

VOZ, THE BIG PICTURE 

After our first line, VOZ will create a sustainable model for the impoverished women we aim to serve, providing stable, living wages for our artisans season after season. By helping indigenous women connect their incredible craft to a wider audience through modern design and access to international markets, we aspire to create an enduring poverty relief engine where few jobs exist, celebrate and educate the international community about indigenous culture, and pioneer new levels of elegance in ethical, ecologically pristine design.  

LEARN MORE:

• Our Prototypes 
• Our Story 
• Mapuche People 
• Our Design Workshops 
• Our Team 
• Fan on Facebook 
• Follow on Twitter

INSPIRED?  WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

  1)  Give!  We appreciative of whatever you can give, really, truly. 

  2)  Email your support! Forward this link to your friends, with a note that you care about the project and ask them to join you in your support. 

  3)   Facebook your support.  “Join me in empowering ethical fashion with VOZ through kickstarter:  kck.st/gGXFhP Thank you!  Speak Change, Wear Beauty.” 

  4)  Tweet your support.  “Join me in empowering ethical fashion with @madebyvoz through kickstarter:  kck.st/gGXFhP Thank you!  Speak Change, Wear Beauty. #madebyvoz” 

  5)  Stay in touch. Sign up for email updates, fan us on facebook, follow us on twitter.

We really can’t thank you enough for helping make this dream a reality.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

¡Muchas Gracias! 

 Team VOZ

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