Aims of the Alora project

Over the holiday, Chit had the opportunity to meet with tailors from two different tailoring cooperatives in her hometown, Hanoi.  Read more here about the background of these cooperatives and how Alora aims to support them with its profits.

The first cooperative is comprised of tailors with disadvantaged backgrounds who either suffer from HIV/AIDS, abuse or difficult economic circumstances. This group was established by Ms. Huong and Ms. Hoa, two cousins who had previously worked in factories making clothes for export. After Hoa discovered she had HIV, she could no longer work in the factory and decided to team up with Huong to establish a tailoring cooperative for women with disadvantaged backgrounds. They wanted to teach women tailoring skills in order to create opportunities for the women to support themselves and their family.  In order to protect these women from the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV, Hoa and Huong keep information about the circumstances of each woman who comes to the cooperative confidential. The cooperative has only been operating for over 2 years and currently only caters to bulk orders of maternity clothing for distribution within Vietnam. They work together in a small room with very few machinery and poor working conditions. Many women in the cooperative also work from home in order to balance their domestic responsibilities.

The other tailoring cooperative Alora aims to work with is made up of women who have physical disabilities or special needs and younger girls who suffer from Agent Orange. Agent Orange is a chemical defoliant spread across the forests of Vietnam during the Vietnam-American War. Those who were exposed to this toxic chemical subsequently suffered various diseases and disabilities that were also passed on to their children. Victims of Agent Orange and women with disabilities are still, to a certain extent, ostracised from society and have few opportunities to find employment or education. Vocational and skills training have been the main solutions to enable them to sustain themselves and their families. The women in this cooperative have different skill levels, many have only begun to learn tailoring skills whilst others are producing clothes for factories and other outlets.

While both these cooperatives are currently not involved in producing the types of higher-end, custom-made clothing that Alora currently markets, we hope that through Alora’s capacity building program and the support of Ms Yen – Alora’s tailor, these cooperatives can eventually receive the support they need in order to raise their skill levels and open new markets through which their products can be sold.  

Where the fabric comes from

Alora dresses use four main types of fabrics: silk, chiffon, taffeta and satin.  The silk used by Alora is Vietnamese handmade silk. Handmade silk is softer than factory produced silk, however more expensive as it is very labour-intensive. Currently, the majority of silk from Vietnam is handmade by various silk villages throughout the country as the technology and capital needed for factory-produced silk is still not yet available. Where possible, Alora’s tailor will try to source silk directly from silk villages in order to ensure silk producers receive as much of the proceeds as possible. Chiffon, taffeta and satin are imported from China. 

Distribution of Alora’s profits

Alora aims to make a 25% profit that will be used to:

-Sponsor classes for women in the cooperatives who need additional tailoring skills training

-Buy machinery and equipment for the cooperatives

-Invest in branding and marketing strategies that might help to open up new markets for the cooperatives

-Support training of new tailors joining the cooperatives

Varsity reports on Alora!

Varsity, one of Cambridge´s premier student newspapers, reports on Alora´s fashionable ethics, check it out! 

My order

May 11th:
The first batch of dresses arrived from Vietnam just after Easter. The girls lucky enough to find their dress in the first batch were able to fit it and give it in for any needed adjustments in Magdalene College on the 27th of April. 
Currently, the second batch of dresses is being shipped and are expected to arrive in Cambridge by Friday the 13th of May. We are hoping to schedule another fitting session on Monday the 16th of May.

March 21st:

We have had an overwhelming interest during both of our measure sessions. Many of you visited us with their own brilliant design or adapted a stunning evening gown they had seen in a magazine or on film. 

The first dress designs have already been sent over to Vietnam and are currently being made.

We expect the dresses to come in at the beginning of Exam term. Until then, check back on our website for useful updates on the dress orders or contact us on our email address: alora.sife@gmail.com. 

Apart from delivering the dresses in Cambridge, we are also planning an adjustment session in May. The date(s) for this has not been set yet, but we are hoping to do so as soon as possible.

Upcoming events!

Upcoming design-and-measure sessions:

Friday March 4th, 18.00-20.00, Magdalene College - Buckingham Room

Sunday March 13th, 12.30-14.30, Magdalene College - Buckingham Room

The major May Balls are selling out already! So come down to Magdalene for the opportunity to discuss your ideal design and order your 2011 May Ball dress. 

Please try to come up with your own design, either from a magazine or from your imagination and bring your design to our session. We will take you through the ordering process, take your measurements and discuss any questions you might have (along with a cup of tea). Feel free to contact us for more information in advance! 

How to get to the Buckingham Room? Have a look here for Magdalene's college map:
http://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/images/graphics/large/CollegeMap.jpg

Patterns: pictures

To guarantee your own unique dress, various patterns are available for the dresses.

A selection of these is shown below: more patterns are available at our design-and-measure sessions!

--Plain colours from our colour palette

Choices from the elaborate Vietnamese silk selection

 
                                                         

Materials: silk, satin and more

Silk

This material, guarded by the Chinese out of fear of execution for more than 7000 years has been desired by the entire world for millennia. It was used as currency in China, caused economic problems in ancient Rome,  distinguished the commoners from the nobility in Medieval times and remains a craved commodity. The complex process of production requires care and attention to detail starting with the growing of the silk worms and ending with the manual weaving. It is an elegant material that can come in different thickness and any imaginable embroidery. It keeps your body warm in the cold and cool at high temperatures. It is a shiny, non-slippery, strong material, perfect for simple-cut dresses, excelling through detailed embroidery.

Taffeta

This is a starched cloth that holds its shape, thus being used for corsets and dresses with a particular form, different from that of the body. Its lustrous, glimmer confer it a metallic, watery inflections from which its elegance stems.  Being stiff and crisp, taffeta can be used to create elaborate necklines and rims.

Chiffon

A lightweight, balanced, semi-transparent material. It is used either in layers or in conjecture with other material. Being smooth and delicate, it gives the dress an elegant, floating appearance. This material is perfect for free-flowing gowns as it will react to any movement you will make. Chiffon is strong for its weight and has a lustrous quality desirable for evening wear.

Satin

A smooth material with high lustre, which can be woven in various patterns, offering it texture. It varies in weight and flexibility, however it is a rather heavy material that will fall nicely into place and move along with your body. Satin can be on-sided or two-sided regarding its lustre, the former being preferred as it provides both an elegant look and a pleasant, smooth feel against the skin.

Project background

The garment and textile industry is an upcoming industry in Vietnam which mainly delivers mass-produced clothing for export. Employees of mass-production factories, largely women, are often underpaid, despite their long hours and their working conditions are routinely poor. Custom-made products provide an alternative. They require higher skill levels and experience of the tailor and are of supreme quality compared to mass-produced garments. In addition, tailors receive a fairer reward for their custom-made clothing, although the pieces remain competitively priced for European standards. By working as a tailor, women are able to support themselves and their family which is especially important for vulnerable groups that face social stigma, such as those infected with HIV, victims of abuse and domestic violence and the disabled. Alora Dresses aims to support the custom-made industry in Vietnam by providing an export market for a particular group of Vietnamese tailors. 

Ms Yen, the head tailor for the Alora Project, is an example of a woman who has thrived in the custom-made industry. Starting out as a small, independent tailor, Ms Yen slowly built up her tailor-made business to become one of the most reputable tailor shops in Hanoi. Her business helped her to escape poverty and to acquire the skills of running a business. She now has a shop in Hanoi’s central district, selling high-quality silk, Vietnamese designs and tailor-made outfits with customers from across Vietnam and foreign tourists who visit Vietnam. She now employs a variety of tailors, providing them with hands-on experience.

The Alora Project, which falls under the organisation of SIFE Cambridge - Students in Free Enterprise - aims to help more women in Vietnam, like Ms Yen, to succeed from the garment industry. The proceeds of the project will go towards a capacity building program for vulnerable women searching to work in the custom-made garment industry. Alora wishes to increase the skill level, knowledge and experience of these women by providing training and machinery. Through this, Alora seeks to expand their repertoire and empower them with the skills of working in a more sustainable and profitable environment.