Fashion is a kinetic force like no other and consumers’ growing appetite for fashion ensures that direct labour in the fashion value chain is employed. The last one-year has arguably been the fashion industry’s most lucrative when it comes to female empowerment. Ensuring the gains translate to fair wages and economic mobility for women at the lowest rung of the fashion industry must remain top of the agenda for ethical fashion enthusiasts.
By joining forces, through Adara x TAN by Tiffany Amber, Adara Foundation and Tiffany Amber demonstrate how women can collaborate to create significant market opportunities for low-income women. The collection features a selection of styles by TAN, which utilizes a delicate blend of modern sophistication and glamour, offered at the right price point. All the textiles used in the collection were painstakingly designed, hand painted and printed by 24 women who as a result of the collaboration are benefiting from improved income and hopefully broader markets for their skills and textiles.
EWARE (Empowering Women in Arts and Related Enterprises), Adara’s flagship skills acquisition program, trains financially challenged women to be skilled textile artisans, knowledgeable and able to produce and trade profitably in the best quality tie-dye and batik prints. The intensive and hands-on workshops epitomize the foundation’s holistic approach to women’s empowerment, exposing beneficiaries to skills training, health access, health education, financial education, and market access opportunities. EWARE women are trained by some of the leading textile artists in Nigeria. Since its launch in 2017, over 200 women have been trained.
TAN by Tiffany Amber is the diffusion line of the iconic African lifestyle brand, Tiffany Amber. The line aims to be more accessible to women and girls across Africa while still carrying the heritage of the anchor brand, Tiffany Amber. TAN mixes a blend of modern designs with the culture and creativity of our fast-growing continent by sourcing locally produced inputs and partnering with local and African artists and artisans to deliver fashionable and culturally authentic products. Both TAN and Adara Foundation share a common goal in deepening the fashion industry in Nigeria by creating a platform for creative fabric design led by women.
EWARE’s Access to Markets program works to identify sustainable and viable markets for the textile designs of its graduates. While its partnership with Tiffany Amber Nigeria provides a unique platform for women to join forces to create significant market opportunities for low-income women. The program is offered at no cost to participating women and the foundation works to eliminate barriers to participation by providing transportation allowance and a well-balanced meal throughout the duration of the training. EWARE is delivered in partnership with Nike Art Center Foundation, a leading arts institution in Nigeria.
Adara Foundation’s mission is to contribute to the development of Africa by catalyzing innovative development and transformation of women through arts and education. The economic empowerment and financial independence of women is a core pillar of the foundation’s work and it aims to reduce women’s vulnerabilities while boosting their skills and employability in key economic sectors in Africa, including power, housing, agriculture, and arts and culture.
The foundation adopts a holistic approach to women’s empowerment, exposing beneficiaries to skills training, health access, health education, financial education, and market access opportunities. Since its establishment in 2015, over 6,000 families have been impacted through its skills acquisition development and access to health and education programs.
