Project name

whomadeyourpants?

Category

Teaching skills

Region

South West

Town or Village

Southampton

whomadeyourpants? is about three things. Opportunity for women who’ve had opportunity taken away from them, ethical manufacturing, and pants.

Gorgeous, lacy, lovely pants.

But how could your pants feel lovely when they were made in the terrible conditions that are common in high street manufacturing sources?

whomadeyourpants? works to empower marginalised women primarily from the refugee community in Southampton, working together to make ethical pants in a safe, flexible, community space. Our vision is that women from places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Turkey deserve the initial support that so few employers in the UK are prepared to give them.

whomadeyourpants? provides up-front training in English, and then in sewing: every woman who is accepted onto our course will go through an NVQ Level 2 in Manufacture of Sewn Products, and will be encouraged to train to be a team leader too. All the profit we make goes back into the business to provide more jobs and ongoing learning, advice and support.

We launched our first collection of gorgeous ethical pants in December last year, in time for Christmas orders. Our launch also coincided with offering our first employment contracts to eleven fully trained women from refugee communities in Southampton. We are now also working with our next round of trainees, a further fifteen marginalised women are learning sewing and English, and will soon be offered employment contracts.

We really do believe that pants can change the world. Do you?