Mestizo

The products are clothes made of denim fabric combined with ethnic Andean hand-woven textiles. Mestizo is not only a garment, it is a piece of history, every symbol and every color has its own meaning. Because of this, each jean is unique in its class. It is important to say that the laundry process of Mestizo will be ecological without using aggressive agents like chlorine normally used in this industry. On the other hand, hand-woven textiles used will be naturally dyed.

Our company has already the necessary machinery to produce jeans, but we need to have laundry machinery in order to reduce our production costs, improve the finish quality and become more competitive. Because laundry process requires a lot of water, a part of it can be recycled; in this way the company has the necessary physical space to implement this kind of process. This action can help us to reduce even more our costs and our environmental impact. In this way, we have the support of a university which is very interested in helping us to implement innovative recycling water processes.

The primary target market is people from Bolivia and tourists; men and women between 18 and 40 years old who usually use jeans and appreciate high quality ethnic products with a social impact, the following target market are the same segment in Argentina and Chile.

The raw materials that we need are basically denim fabric and sheep wool which are available during all year.

There will be distributors in Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Salta, and a virtual store. In Buenos Aires Mestizo will be sold in Fair Trade Stores, Ethnic Stores and zones related to tourist. Mestizo will participate of specialized fairs of Handicrafts, Andean Culture, hand-woven textiles, Bolivian Culture and others related.

The communication program will persuade people to know not only the jeans but also the story behind Mestizo: who made it, where it was made, why was made, what mean the symbols they have and to whom are the consumers contributing when they buy a Mestizo. The media we are going to use are free publicity in magazines, internet with an e-store where people could buy on line, brand ambassadors: artists and famous people related with cultural movements who will tell their friends about the product.

Only one company was identified as a possible competitor of Mestizo in Argentina, its name is Abrapampa, they offer classical and ethnic clothes as a complement of leather articles.

The CAPEC of Tilcara, Jujuy will be the operative arm of Mestizo in Argentina, because of the great cultural network that it has and the experience they have working with Andean products in their store.

Mestizo will be a unique piece of Andean Culture. Each piece of Mestizo will have a ‘product life story label’ giving detailed information about the product’s source and background. A separate label will have a detailed description of the meaning in the Andean Culture of each of the symbols used in the garment, and finally another label will describe the Mestizo Project and its social, economic and environmental impact.

My company has been in this line of business since 1999, during this time we have developed one of the best quality jeans in Bolivia. I have expertise in industrial laundry of jeans, which is one of the most important factors to get a high quality product. I worked for a laundry company for four years; I have contact with the suppliers for this business. In 2006 we traveled to Brazil where our laundry suppliers taught us the latest laundry processes for jeans and fashion effects. Also, during the last three years we have developed our own jeans patterns for man and woman, this permit us to offer a very comfortable and stylish product.

As member of a cultural organization, I have traveled to the north of Argentina at least once a year since 2003. During these visits, I have noticed that Andean culture is now highly valued in Argentina. Many people from Argentina feel a particular attraction to things related to Andean Culture.

In April of 2007 a small shipment of Mestizo jeans was sent to Buenos Aires and Jujuy in Argentina, where they were shown to the public in a department store with high acceptation. This first experience was very satisfactory.

Mestizo will have a deep development impact in :

• Direct and Indirect local employment. The first year it will generate 30 direct employment in Sucre and Cochabamba. The confection industry is well know for generating a lot of direct employment, more than other industries, this is because almost all the production processes are manual. In case of women can’t leave the house because of her house labors or small children, they can weave at home.

• Direct and Indirect local income in two states of Bolivia, this will contribute to raise standard quality of living for rural women in Sucre and urban women in Cochabamba. Women will get a secure employment all the year and will be economically independent from men. In long term, this will reduce economical problems inside the family, in consequence familiar violence, divorces and children family desertion will be reduced also. In long term, I will make employees part of the company as associated, empowering so their commitment with the company and increasing their incomes.

• Education. A well educated woman, bring up well educated children. Women who take part of Mestizo, will be trained in technical skills (weaving and confection) but also will be trained in human values, self confidence improvement, First Aid, Nutrition, Child Health Control and programs to reduce illiteracy. An amount of sales will be assigned to a Wawa Wasi (children garden), where women’s small children (1 to 5 years old) will be looked after and soon stimulated.