Our People

Meet_the_faces_of_Pachacuti_who_handmake_our_Panamas

WEAVING A BETTER WORLD

The historic exploitation of underpaid weavers by unscrupulous middlemen means that this timeless skill is under threat. The younger generation, quite understandably, have been searching for alternative ways to make a living. This has led to the community, where we work in Ecuador, having some of the highest rates of migration in the country, with 60% of children having at least one parent who now lives overseas. The destruction of family and community life has led to high rates of alcoholism, double the national rate of youth suicides and teen pregnancies are the norm.

Pachacuti panama hat weavers by river ecuador

The art of creating Panama Hats is woven into the fabric of daily life of the Andean mountain communities where our weavers live. Women weave on the bus, walking to market, on their way to the fields. It is so much a part of the fabric of life in Ecuador that in 2012 UNESCO declared that the art of weaving a “Panama” hat would be added to their list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Intangible Cultural Heritage is a term used for knowledge, traditions and rituals which permeate the everyday life of a community, are passed down through generations and form an intrinsic part of their identity and culture. Weaving a hat from paja toquilla represents the cultural heritage of the entire community. There is an ongoing campaign in Ecuador to reposition the Panama hat as the Ecuador hat, a move we fully support.

Who we work with

Unlike the journey taken by most Panama Hats in the world, which pass through the hands of around seven different intermediaries (known as ‘perros’ or dogs due to their unscrupulous purchasing practices) Pachacuti works directly with our artisans in every step of the process, weaving, dyeing, blocking, finishing, to ensure that as much of the final value as possible remains in their hands.

Pachacuti pays a fair price which is monitored through interviews to ascertain the local cost of living and by measuring the price we pay against the government’s cañasta básica vital, the monthly market price of meeting basic needs for a family of 4.

We work with our weaving associations to break down the price of every style of hat to calculate the cost of the raw materials, the dyes, the overheads, the labour and the profit margin.

We provide ongoing training and investment, not just in design development and skills, but in self-esteem, human relations, costing of products and overheads, and health and safety.

Since 1992, we have worked to preserve and encourage traditional hat weaving skills in Ecuador. The average age of our weavers is 58 and we need to ensure this way of life is viable for future generations of Panama hat weavers.

THE NEW SUPPLY CHAIN

Homeworkers, part-time and other worker who make up the informal economy are largely ignored in fashion brands’ assessments, disclosure and reporting. Moreover, most CSR initiatives have very marginal positive impact on the lowest levels of the supply chain. Pachacuti has developed, co-developed and implemented a number of tools to positively affect working conditions at the lowest levels of the supply chain over the past decade.

We continue to innovate today and have begun work on a new generation of standards which continue with the bottom-up rather than top-down approach we have trialled over the past decade in collaboration with EMAS Easy and Ecomapping creator Heinz Werner Engel. Building on our previous work together, we are trialling visual tools which use more pictures, emoticons and symbols, rather than writing, in order to be inclusive and accessible for our artisan groups. This will enable them to assess, map, generate feedback and document compliance with codes in visual, understandable forms.

Previously, in 2009 we became the first company in the world to be Fair Trade Certified under the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System and piloted the Fair Trade Guarantee System in 2011, becoming the first fashion brand in the world to receive the new label. Our work on the 3 year EU Geo Fair Trade project involved the collection of 68 social, economic and environmental indicators. This enabled us to measure our Fair Trade impact on 165 women, their families, communities and environment, tracking progress over a three year period.

Pachacuti pays a fair price which is monitored through interviews to ascertain the local cost of living and by measuring the price we pay against the government’s cañasta básica vital, the monthly market price of meeting basic needs for a family of 4.

We work with our weaving associations to break down the price of every style of hat to calculate the cost of the raw materials, the dyes, the overheads, the labour and the profit margin.

We provide ongoing training and investment, not just in design development and skills, but in self-esteem, human relations, costing of products and overheads, and health and safety.

Since 1992, we have worked to preserve and encourage traditional hat weaving skills in Ecuador. The average age of our weavers is 58 and we need to ensure this way of life is viable for future generations of Panama hat weavers.