The (bumpy) road towards Empowerment

Ethical production is hard, man I'm not going to even try and lie. Doing things the right way is tough, specially in an industry that is known for pushing their producers beyond their limits and underpaying them. Honestly, it's a quite horrible combination. But here we are, trying to disrupt an industry, setting up new standards of producing. And along with those standards come patience, empathy and a whole lot of understanding towards our producers. By this same standard we expect nothing less from you :) At VIRTŪ we are trying to establish a shared commitment between us all, a journey towards empowerment that starts with our 'Perfect Shirts'.

When we decided to produce our shirts in the Dominican Republic, we knew it was going to be a struggle and indeed it has been, but a very rewarding one. For those of you who are not aware, most things in this island have to be imported say cotton fabric, machinery, threads, etc. That within itself was a challenge, but with time comes experience. We learned and now we live. Secondary to that we had to find the perfect partners that shared our mission and vision. We visited dozens of production sites "who claimed to be fair and ethical" but really were working at bearable conditions. Thankfully, we found Anníibal and could not be happier about our partnership. As luck would have it, when we approached them they were looking to expand their business and our production was god-sent, except our order exceeded their capacity. With growth in mind and your orders coming through, they decided to take the plunge and buy new equipment. Today, his atelier has almost doubled their production capacity and generated more jobs. Cheers to all of us!

If by now, your like "phew they've got this covered", let me tell you the training program has also been a challenge. From getting things organised on time (yes I know, we dominicans have generated a "not being on time ever" fame) to keeping our youngsters motivated to attend every day. You have to understand, that Guachupita is a very harsh neighbourhood to live in and most people are concerned with just being able to get through the day. Unfortunately, education is not always a priority. For this reason we teamed up with FURJUG an organization with proven results of keeping teens and young men and women out of crime. With their help we have been able to summon a group of 10 trainees interested in professional development (please check out our social media, we introduced them this week as part of #whomademyclothes). Along with conceptual knowledge, we have introduced practical workshops tailored to the specific needs of our group. Our prof Neftali has been able to captivate his students with his own stories of success and how he overcame where he was born to get to where he is today. He always says, do not let your circumstances define you. And that my friends, should be our new motto. As I write this post Jason and I are brainstorming on activities that could benefit our muchachos. Thus far, we have gone out for pizza and shared personal stories, arranged a private tour of el Palacio Nacional and started a resume building seminar. Please send in suggestions, we would love to have you involved even more closely.

So as you can see, the road towards empowerment has been quite a bumpy ride. A ride that we knew beforehand would be intricate, but oh so magnificent! The fact that one click, your voice as a consumer to buy our products, translates into better lives for dozens of families will never cease to amaze me. I stand in awe of you, for making the better choice, the right choice. It's people like you that make our jobs possible and it's people like our producers and trainees that make our jobs worth doing. 

PS: For those of you who desperately want your shirts or are somewhat concerned that they haven't arrived yet, please understand that this is a process, that like wine, will get better in time.