About Just Apparel


Just Apparel (JA) is an initiative of the International Humanitarian Foundation, Inc. (IHF), a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

JA partners with indigenous artisan women in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala to produce customized, hand-embroided sweatshirts, polos, t-shirts, and tote-bags. We market those products as ethically produced alternative to the goods that student organizations and companies in the US already buy in large numbers. In doing so, we connect artisans with a much larger market than they could otherwise find for their products, and we give buyers in the US an opportunity to express ethical commitments through their purchases.

Our Values


A Living Wage - Market wages for traditional handicrafts in Santiago are not high enough to prevent a family from living in abject poverty. JA will ensure the improvement of the economic well-being of our partner artisans by paying a wage approximately three to four times the local market rate for a day's labor, that is, 30 percent or more above the Guatemalan non-poverty wage according to fairtradecalculator.org.

A Safe Working Environment - Many artisans in Santiago suffer vision problems due to long hours of detailed embroidery work in poor lighting. JA gives all our partner artisans bright lamps to use while working at night, and we provide glasses for artisans with failing sight.

Building Capacity - Simply providing employment is not enough to support well-being. JA provides optional classes in Spanish language and literacy, workshops on financial management, and education regarding sanitation and healthy cooking for artisans and their families.

Respecting Cultural Work Patterns and Nurturing Families - Working at home with sporadic hours is the traditional mode of handicraft production in Santiago. It would be culturally insensitive to demand eight hours of continuous work for five days a week, especially from single mothers. Therefore, JA has adopted output-based work requirements. When and how our partner artisans engage in their work is their choice to make. Additionally, JA encourages women to work from home, allowing them to care for their children throughout the day.

Investing in the Community - It is our belief that economic enterprise should benefit entire communities, not just a small segment of the population. JA will share the economic opportunity it creates with all of Santiago through the Just Apparel Community Investment Program. Using profits to fund community-wide health, education, and technology projects not only provides a sustainable source of funding for these initiatives, but it does so through the hard work of community members themselves. The women who work with JA not only earn higher wages than ever before; they also power a vehicle for the improvement of their community.



History

You could say that JA began several years ago around a small table in a restaurant in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. IHF volunteers (and future JA founders) Ryan McAnnally-Linz and Heidi Jutsum sat with a local leader discussing the daunting obstacles that they faced as they worked with the IHF's partner group of artisans to raise incomes through handicraft production. As Ryan and Heidi explained that their attempts to connect the artisans with fair trade outlets in the US had without exception failed because retailers already had too many suppliers, the local man nodded along. Then, suddenly, he perked up. Reflecting on his recent visit to Haverford College in Pennsylvania, he said, "I noticed that all the students at Haverford walk around wearing t-shirts and sweatshirts with 'Haverford' written on them. Why don't we have the women here embroider things like that and put a bird beside it!" Thus was born the idea that would become Just Apparel.

Ryan and Heidi spent much of the next twenty months planning and fundraising in order to put that idea into action. They arrived in Santiago in August 2007 to start JA in earnest. The first team of JA partner artisans was formed in September, and following several weeks of training, JA began accepting orders in October. It has been growing ever since.

In the years since that fateful conversation, the bird has migrated a bit (it now forms the inspiration behind our logo), but the concept has remained the same — fair trade works best when it not only treats producers justly, but also fits the tastes of consumers.