PROMISE AND SUSTAINABILITY

For us, sustainability is a journey, a way to do things that guides us and inspires us in each and every one of the decisions we make. We honour, appreciate and take care of the people who are part of this project.
At Amambaih, rather than talk about sustainability, we like to think in terms of responsibility, love and respect for people and the environment. Our mission involves giving quality work to craftswomen and in turn to give back and positively contribute to the development of the communities we collaborate with.

Our main pillars are: people, responsible design and respect for the earth.

 

MANIFESTO

“We make a commitment to protect and promote craftsmanship in the world, the hands and lives of the people who make it possible as well as their environments.” Amambaih is a sincere gratitude towards women who, with their knowledge, work and life, protect their roots to improve their economy and thus the economy of their children and their environment. Amambaih's essence is to give visibility to all of them. We undertake to help, support and expand the artisan communities who are seeing how the activity developed since their ancestors is gradually disappearing. We want to go back to the roots and recover the craftsmanship of the world, to redesign it, showcase it and transform it ethically and sustainably to provide objects with meaning to our clients.

 

PEOPLE FIRST

For us, all the people involved in the Amambaih project deserve the best possible treatment and the opportunity to grow with the project. It is therefore essential for us to work fairly by creating trusting and long-term relationships with employees, suppliers, craftswomen and also with the communities where we do business. Our commitment:

EMPOWERING WOMEN

Empowering artisan women by improving the work space and adapting it so that they can reconcile work and family life. “in Carapegua, Paraguay, a small village, nestled in a quiet area near Asunción, women who are head of the family meet to work. The fabrics of our sandals are made by them, thus raising traditional craftsmanship to a luxury level, while improving their means of livelihood” “We honour and admire the manual and constant work they perform in their looms ancestrally created from tree branches” (Mariela Schawrz)

HUMAN RIGHTS

Respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to protect all the people who work in this project. To that purpose, we have defined a human rights policy where we state to all the agents taking part in our activity that they must protect the rights of all people. 

FAIR TRADE

Our greatest commitment is to honour the work of the craftswomen around the world by offering them opportunities for their financial development and well-being.

In an effort to improve their quality of life, especially craftswomen and the natives who are the ones who weave the fabrics that we then apply to the shoes, we have committed to develop our activity under the principles of fair trade, which are:
• Creation of opportunities for producers with financial disadvantages.
• Transparency and responsibility
• Fair business practices
• Payment of a fair price
• To guarantee the absence of child and forced labour.
• Commitment to non-discrimination, gender equity and freedom of association (trade unions)
• To ensure good working conditions
• To facilitate capacity development
• Promotion of Fair Trade
The final purpose of this project has a social impact. Our task is to improve the living conditions of these people, by providing quality and well paid employment allowing them to continue working near their families.

We want to help their community to prosper so that they have a better future. We also want to improve their homes with new infrastructures allowing them to develop their work more comfortably, given that these craftswomen would rather develop their activity in their family environment for a better balance instead of going to a work place equipped for production.

For that reason, we are in contact with international organisations such as the International Development Bank, the UN and World Fair Trade.

SUPPLY CHAIN

To achieve full transparency and traceability of our supply chain to ensure that our social and environmental values are upheld.

In the fashion sector, transparency in the supply chain is essential to avoid the violation of human rights. For that reason, at Amambaih we do the traceability of the whole value chain and we make sure that we know each and every one of our suppliers, who have been chosen according to proximity criteria, in compliance with their social and environmental duties, the quality of their products and professionalism.

 

CONSCIOUS DESIGN AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

 “Amambaih is more than a footwear collection. It is a celebration of cultures, a preservation of traditional craftsmanship, and a quest to render each day more beautiful – for those who don its creations, as well as those who conceive them. It is a philosophical approach to luxury, one that places people at the core: from the families in Paraguay that bring exceptional fabrics to life, to the artisans in Spain that use these materials in constructing exquisite footwear, to the woman who slips them on each day. Each Amambaih creation tells the tale of a journey, one marked by shared experiences, emotions and a desire to embellish one’s dreams. “

ANCESTRAL DESIGN AND INNOVATION

Ancestral craftsmanship has been searched in order to recover and modernise it. With new colours and patterns, more modern but still keeping the beauty and essence of the past.
Innovation is due to the fact that it is the first time that these fabrics are applied to footwear.
Each season, the creative director Mariela Schawrz works with her design team to offer a new proposal in terms of patterns and colours of the fabrics.

SHOES THAT TELL STORIES

Craftsmanship has a value in itself, with all that this implies.The whole shoe is in itself artisan work. Behind each shoe we find the story of several families, and their effort to provide beauty and quality.
Fabrics are manually produced with no machinery whatsoever, so every piece is unique and special.

ECO-DESIGNED

Each model has been designed thinking about the respect of the material's origin, the fabrics, their lines, their soul... We are not interested in creating products that promote a short lived trend. We create products that last a long time both in their craftsmanship and design.

LIMITED EDITIONS

We are aware of the existing overproduction and for that reason we commit to collections that last, limited editions with very small circulation. We want to avoid generating stock and we think a lot about every collection we launch.

 

EARTH RESPECT

One of our greatest commitments is to develop all our activity in the most respectful possible manner towards the environment. Within the whole footwear value chain, the stages that have a greater impact on people and the environment are the stages of materials and manufacturing. We have therefore taken care of every detail in the selection of materials and factories involved in this project.

SUSTAINABLE RAW MATERIALS

We choose natural materials close to the manufacturing locations. We have made an exquisite selection of sustainable materials:
• responsible cotton, from controlled plantations in Brazil
• leathers certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG), which is the strictest standard in leather tanning.
• natural and recycled cork from wine bottle corks

SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING

Our products are 100% handmade, which reduces the need for machinery and, therefore, emissions.
When we receive craftsmanship from other countries (such as the Amambaih fabrics and plaits) we do it by putting together large batches in order to reduce our carbon footprint.
Shoes are manufactured in our factory, Studio Ilana, in Elda, Spain. For Studio Ilana it is of utmost importance to be respectful towards the environment and people, while providing values to the Community.
Our factory in Spain is being environmentally certified (ISO 14001 and 9001) and is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals. The factory has joined the United Nations Global Compact. All the energy used in the factory comes from renewable sources. Furthermore, we have measured the carbon footprint three years in a row and have applied actions to reduce it.

ECO-PACKAGING

We also aim to reduce waste by keeping all our packaging to a minimum. The paper in our boxes comes from recycled coffee cups and the cardboard is certified by FSC. The bags we include to protect your shoes are made from organic cotton.