December, 28th, 2012

Ecuador | PACHACUTI | Heritage Hattitude

pa-cha-cu-tee. Founded on a passion for improving the lives of Andean producers and their communities, Pachacuti is committed to creating a successful, contemporary fashion and accessories business built on the foundation of Fair Trade.

Pachacuti means “world upside-down” in the Quechua language and describes Carry Somers’ endeavour to redress the inequalities in the global fashion industry through demonstrating that it is possible to run a successful retail and wholesale clothing business which benefits the producers and is environmentally sustainable. And raise, with dignité, her beautiful Sienna.

“Yes, of course I regret not having more time with my daughter when she was younger. I used to pick her up from childcare at 6pm every day and I frequently worked over the weekends when she was younger as well. I was drawing no money from the business, so no treats or holidays for years. I could’t afford to buy anything new for Sienna when she was born and relied on hand-me-downs from friends for years to keep her in clothes and toys. However, I know that the impact Pachacuti has had on the lives and families of 1200 producers has been so significant and this could not have been achieved without some level of sacrifice. I may not have had as much time as I would have liked with my daughter throughout her childhood, but through the rural work programmes we have created in the Andes, hundreds of women are able to earn a good income working from home, caring for their families, instead of migrating to towns and cities in search of work.”

December 6, 2012, UNESCO declared that the art of weaving a Panama hat in Ecuador 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. Other forms of cultural expression which have already received this designation include Chinese acupuncture and Spanish Flamenco.

Whist Material Cultural Heritage is clearly visible, the concept of Intangible Cultural Heritage is harder to understand. In fact, since the declaration was made, twitter was full of Ecuadorians celebrating the fact that the Panama hat had been recognised by UNESCO and not understanding that a Panama hat is a tangible object containing an intangible heritage of great value to the country. A heritage which, sadly, is in danger of extinction if steps are not taken to preserve it.

In the small, rural community where Pachacuti works, the art of creating Panama Hats is woven into the fabric of daily life: women weave on the bus, walking to market, on their way to the fields. Even at the General Assembly of the Association which I attended this year where large signs proclaimed Leave Your Hats Outside, the weavers carried on weaving whilst voting.

In fact, when interviewed, our weavers were convinced that it takes around 20 hours to weave a hat as they pick up and put down their weaving all day long, taking around two days to complete an economical grade of Panama. It was only last year when we finally decided to conduct a proper time trial with no distractions that we discovered that it only actually takes 8 hours to weave a grade 2 Panama hat.

I never see our weavers without straw in their hands, whether preparing the ‘tallos’ of paja toquilla before weaving or carrying a part-finished hat. For the 165 women who weave Pachacuti Panama hats, weaving is more than an art, more than a skill, it is a way of life and represents the cultural heritage of the entire community. Sadly, the children of our weavers do not always share the desire to participate in these traditional skills as historically the Panama hat weaver has been exploited by middlemen and young people, quite understandably, have been searching for alternatives. This has led to our community in Ecuador having some of the highest levels of migration in the country, with 60% of children having at least one parent living overseas. The destruction of family and community life has led to high rates of alcoholism, youth suicide and teen pregnancies.

Pachacuti is trying to change this by paying a Fair Price (60% to 120% more than the middlemen when I visited earlier this year and compared prices) and providing training, not just in design development and skills, but in self-esteem, human relations, costing of products and overheads, health and safety. On my last visit I heard that there was a waiting list to join the Association which is fantastic news. Now Pachacuti just needs to keep growing so that we can support all of the women who want to join us! I am delighted that our work is encouraging more weavers to want to join and proving that Panama hat weaving really can provide a viable form of income to enable women to remain within their rural communities, keep families together, and pass on their culture and traditions.

As well as preserving traditional skills, through our design input we are teaching the weavers new skills and developing new markets around the world for these beautiful hand-woven hats. The women love to weave Pachacuti designs and we have even discovered that they can weave a brightly coloured hat one hour faster than a natural hat !

Carry Somers, Fouder of Pachacuti

Affirmative. Fashion.