Mayamiko: “We love making clothes, but protective masks have to come first”

Mayamiko the London fashion label that directly supports the Mayamiko Trust through their artisanal, fairtrade, sustainable and ethically-made collections have to stop their deliveries for online orders because their warehouse partner in London, following government direction, has closed down for the time being.   Therefore they are currently not able to ship orders or receive deliveries, as the first priority for them is to look after the health of employs and vulnerable adults.

During  the lockdown in the UK, the Malawi government has also enforced a series of measures in preparation for the Covid-19 virus spreading, and while their sewers and makers are still able to work, with all the necessary precautions, they have diverted their entire production to making protective masks for the local community and health workers. Mayamiko are donating them and their teams continue to be paid a full salary.

Mayamiko normally hand pick  textiles from the local fabrics market in Malawi, and work with a local cooperative of women traders to source the most exclusive prints.  They only produce a very limited number of pieces to minimise wastage and each garment is made on demand so they don’t waste fabrics by over-producing.

Paola Masperi founder of Mayamiko says: “We love making clothes, but right now, masks have to come first.”

In the meantime, Mayamiko is helping us to make the best of this phase of social distancing and share with us a new simple skill of making a zero-waste scrunchie in ten simple steps with a bit of scrap fabric and some elastic, led by two lovely ladies Brenda and Jane. Perfect accessory if you want to put up your long hair while doing work-outs at home.

Click HERE for the online tutorial.
So get rummaging, find what you need and let’s get this scrunchie party started!

Note: there are lots of ways of making scrunchies, they picked what they felt was the easiest for beginners. They used a sewing machine, but you can also hand-sew your scrunchie if you don’t have a machine. If you are hand-sewing, you might like to use a contrast colour thread, so your handy work becomes more of a feature.
Paola says, "We look forward to when we can go back to doing what we do best: clothes that give you joy, and empower women."  
Mayamiko urge you to share your creations with them on Instagram and tag @mayamikodesinged

Saying it with Fairtrade flowers!

This bouquet from ethical florist Arena Flowers, mixes peach and yellow roses with hot pink carnations 

and elegant eucalyptus, projecting a vibrant summer vibe.

Every order received is arranged and hand-tied by their florists to create a unique bouquet.

Photo by Lucia Carpio

Received recently a lovely bunch of flowers of which I was told was provided by Arena Flowers, a UK ethical florist that carries an official FAIRTRADE mark which means they adhere to strict Fairtrade Standards on economic, environmental and social requirements.

For more than a decade, Arena Flowers has been working directly with growers in UK and the world and only sources ethically to bring flowers that is Fairtrade, or British, or directly from the farmers themselves to their customers.  The company has been ranked as the UK's most ethical florist, with a perfect 100 score in 2019 on the Ethical Company Index.  And for every bouquet sold, Arena Flowers plant one tree in countries experiencing deforestation.