Created by communities customized by you

We are committed to solving the negative impacts that the fashion industry has upon people and the planet by selling direct to customers eco-friendly, custom, fashion accessories.

We manufacture using a mass-customization model, utilizing an ecommerce digital customization software (myconfigurator). This reduces the overproduction and waste associated with fast fashion today since we only produce what customers design and then purchase.

The materials and workmanship associated with our products are focused on partnerships with indigenous communities in environmentally impacted locations, providing economic empowerment in exchange for their hand-crafted and eco-friendly pieces that are integrated into the design of each of our products.

 Currently we work with Dayak rattan weavers in the rainforests of Borneo (Kalimantan). Rattan requires the trees for its growth, thus keeping the forest and communities in tact. We are also working with artisan textile weavers of Sumba, who work with organic cotton and plant based dyes.  

1. Local employment for traditional artisans who under pressure to leave their ancestral forest lands. Conflicts related to land are pervasive and have frequently been linked to oil palm plantations. Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (Consortium for Agrarian Reform), an Indonesian nongovernmental organization, documented more than 650 land-related conflicts affecting over 650,000 households in 2017, and about 410 conflicts affecting 87,568 households in 2018.

2. Forest preservations: (Indonesia) decreased CO2 and climate stability. Conservative estimations are that 2.4 million acres of Indonesian rainforest is cleared, burned and lost each year to logging, paper pulp and palm oil plantations. Our primary product requires the trees and intact forest for its growth. This preservation also impacts the habitat of the endangered Bornean orangutan.  The Iban Dayak tribe considers orangutans as their ancestors and maintains good relations with this species because orangutans help spread tree seeds as a place for rattan to grow.  Recently, the Melemba Village community has also developed Orangutan Ecotourism.

3. Organic and toxin-free products = safer and healthier for workers and consumers and the environment. Fashion, has been attributed with being the second or third largest polluting industry on the planet.

4. Working with each supplier and NGO such as NTFP to meet certification standards (Participatory Guarantee System or PGS) ensuring fair trade and environmental standards are met, protecting workers and the environment and using UN Sustainability Goals as our roadmaps.

Suppliers

Rattan artisan communities on the island of Borneo: Our mission is in line with WWF Indonesia's efforts which are currently developing a Green Economy in Kapuas Hulu.  an economic idea that aims to improve the welfare and social equality of the community, while reducing the risk of environmental damage significantly.

Textile (tenun) artisan communities on the island of Sumba:  Like the Dayak tribes in the interior of Kalimantan, weavers in Sumba are also located on the outer islands of Indonesia which have not been touched by development for a long time. Apart from being a very dry area, access to electricity, clean water, education and infrastructure is very limited. Illiteracy and school dropout rates in East Sumba are the highest on the island.

 The economy : 30 percent of the population is classified as poor so that it is highlighted as underdeveloped districts by the Indonesian government

Textile artisans/weavers in India (in initial phases)

All of our suppliers and their communities are faced with similar challenges related to lack of economic opportunity due to geographic, language, technological and educational barriers. Our approach is to 1. Develop local teams that can effectively facilitate economic partnerships and understand each communities needs 2. Collaborate with NGOs and local organizations that are working in local sustainable economic development to establish mutually beneficial relationships and improve the lives of each community through economic partnerships. The indigenous communities depend upon the traditions of living off the land, therefore we work within a sustainable framework. 

 The women working group "Meruan Ingat Aku" is an Iban Dayak community living in Melemba Village, a village located in the buffer zone of Danau Sentarum National Park, Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan – Indonesia.

 This is a remote and isolated area in the heart of Borneo.  Electricity is only available for 7 hours a day, schools are only available up to the junior high school level (1 elementary and 1 junior high school), the health service clinic has no staff, so to get education and more adequate health services they have to boat along the river to a bigger village, about 5 hours away.

Our goal is to increase educational opportunities for all members of each community especially the women and children. In many cases younger generations see a decreasing demand for the products their communities and culture historically produce for income. 

The infusion of money into the village is especially seen by community leaders as money that can be used to increase educational opportunities for the younger members of their villages. 

Dr. Carole Murphy is the Founder of Purse for the People and the Host of Heart Stock Radio. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ca...

Using the same template/model that we have successfully implemented, this can be expanded globally where traditional artisans lack access to the global economy. We are connecting our supply partners to global expanded markets through our shopify store. Currently we are launching sales only in the US but will expand globally within the next 2-5 years.

Our key technology is the customization tool that customers use to create their own product design. Our partner Mycustomizer has created a platform solution that opens access to retailers of all sizes. Their customization software is easy to implement and greatly enhances each customer's shopping experience, and their engagement with our brand. Thus we can use our shopping platform to increase public awareness around conscious consuming, #slowfashion, purchasing with purpose and especially issues related to our dependence upon the Rainforest to help regulate climate.  

Not yet implemented, we plan to also use blockchain to trace and map our supply chain for transparency and verification of sustainably sourced materials.

Our economic partnerships will help empower communities in a sustainable manner following the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. 

We and our partner, Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) see the need for transformational change in the status of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, women and youth in terms of recognition and defense of their rights, their livelihoods, well-being, and health. Their persistent invisibility in statistics and policies need to be directly addressed. The defense of threatened community forests, natural resources and ecosystems and working towards inclusive conservation, where the link between people and forests were emphasized as part of our key strategic actions in the next decade.

The global message of transformational change resonated well with NTFP-EP. IPLCs, women, youth, and civil society have vital roles and contributions to building a better future for all. We summed this up in our theory of change by enabling communities and elevating Community-based Forest Conservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Systems, Practices & Culture, Gender Equality and Women Rights through the enhancement of capacity and space for IPLC, women and youth leadership, building knowledge and evidence, catalyzing stakeholders’ engagements, modeling and facilitating change, and stabilizing our foundation as we mainstream gender and strengthen the organization in the next 10 years.

To this end, NTFP-EP will continue to work towards realizing its vision: “Resilient Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, with women and youth in Asia, are respected stewards of healthy forests and living securely in their land for generations to come.”

We see the opportunity to scale through replication and meeting our impact goals through economic empowerment and sustainable economic development. The models we are successfully implemented and replicated in any location globally. 

Our impact goal:

Resilient communities of traditional artisans who are respected stewards of healthy forests and the other natural ecosystems their communities depend on for survival, living sustainably in their land and fostering their cultures of good stewardship for generations to come. 

Vision, Mission, Values : https://docs.google.com/docume...

In the future we would like to implement a sourcing tracking system using Block Chain. Currently we are focused on increased economic stability and equity while conserving the forest and lands by working with organizations including Non-timber Forest Products, Social Forestry Business Groups, World Wild Life Fund and P2RK. We are measuring impact and gathering information from their organizations which reflect how we are doing. We are also directly communicating with the members of each community, asking questions tracking progress and measuring economic impact. Normally local team members visit each community but this has been impossible lately due to COVID. We would like to improve by directly measuring our impact upon the artisan's lives and their communities

Challenges related to COVID ie travel restrictions, office closures, staffing shortages and supply chain bottle necks related to the shipping crisis. 

Production within each community has also been impacted in the past due to natural disasters (Sumba island typhoon). Each community has additional seasonal responsibilities of grow/harvesting food, festivals, ceremonies etc. that can temporarily interrupt production.

Price: The price of our products will require extensive marketing, brand promotion and high customer engagement through the use of social media, print and digital media, founder podcast interviews, and Influencer campaigns

COVID : We are all learning work arounds as the Pandemic lingers on. We are mostly using technology to replace direct human interaction when possible and encouraging all members of the team to get vaccinated  before and tested after necessary travel.

Shipping: Consolidating materials, shipping less often and during non-peek times

Production: Our solution to production barriers is diversification of the supply chain, working with multiple suppliers and maximizing production during the less busy seasons.

Pricing:  Marketing to the right customer niche

Indonesia: 

Dwi Ganatri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dw...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ch...

Christine Amelia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ch...

Chicago and India:

Taylor McCleneghan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ta...

Nathaniel Cook  https://www.linkedin.com/in/na...

Rome:

Elena Malyshok https://www.linkedin.com/in/el...

Nairobi:

Cynthia Changole https://www.linkedin.com/in/cy...

USA:

Shawn Moreau https://www.linkedin.com/in/e-...

Our team approach is truly global in nature and very culturally diverse. Skills and educational backgrounds include: Sourcing, journalism, environmental activism, manufacturing and production, business and marketing. Because this is a large undertaking, it is necessary that we have a very broad and diverse team to create solutions that work in the real world. Diversity is key to having a true understanding of each problem/issue. 

We offer:

workplace flexibility

Encourage referrals from minority team members

Ensure there are least two minority candidates in the final candidate pool 

Diversity hiring is hiring based on merit with care taken to ensure procedures have reduced biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance.

We follow the Federal EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidelines.

Confusion over diversity hiring sometimes lies in the mistaken perception that the goal of diversity recruitment is to increase workplace diversity for the sake of diversity.

The goal of diversity hiring is to identify and reduce potential biases in sourcing, screening, and shortlisting candidates that may be ignoring, turning off, or accidentally discriminating against qualified, diverse candidates.

NTFP: Community economic development,  Rattan Sourcing and Certification

WWF: Rattan Certification, Forest conservation

P2RK and Kpshk : Rattan Certification / Sourcing in develpment  http://kpshk.org/

Melemba Village,  Pulau Telo, Selat, Rattan weavers working groups in Kapuas  Region of Borneo

Sumba Island Weavers, Tinungrambu https://www.instagram.com/tinu... and Noviana @noviana_tenunikatntt

Mass customization, Direct to Customers, Ecommerce Business Model: 

Summary :https://docs.google.com/docume...

Like all good ideas, we need hard work and funding. All current activities have been possible due to grants and self funding. As a winner, our organization would be able to expand and scale rapidly.  We believe strongly in your mission at MIT SOLVE and see it being aligned with our mission at Purse for the People. We are working and pulling in the same direction but engine is very small compared to the horse power of coupling our train to your engine!  

Human Capital: We are currently building a board of advisors and would love to partner with organizations and experts working specifically to 1.expanding educational opportunities in remote/rural villages for adults and children 2. Increase business/entrepreneurial skills for women artisans 3. Technical expertise that will speed our implementation of appropriate technology including blockchain, inventory control systems, SEO, Web development etc.

Financial: We need assistance pitching to and locating impact investors

Public Relations: Brand awareness is key to our success leading to product sales and placement in digital and other media publications would greatly enhance our current efforts. 

Monitor and Evaluation: Locating a partner or platform that can create a seamless and easy monitoring and tracking system is very important including the use of blockchain for monitoring and tracking supply chain.

Technology: 1.Experts in the use of blockchain for monitoring and tracking supply chain. 2. Inventory control systems 3. SEO 4. Web development