The International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and World Trade Organization, launched the Ethical Fashion Initiative a few years back. The project’s aim: to harness the power of fashion as a vehicle out of poverty by connecting top designers, such as Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney, to marginalized artisans in East Africa, West Africa and Haiti.
EFI recently partnered with emerging Haitian swimwear brand, Yanvalou Designs, which works with Haitian artists to create the prints for their beachwear. Through its collections, Yanvalou gives customers the opportunity to experience the beauty and creativity of the island.
We had the opportunity to chat with Founder, Ben Wilson to discuss the concept behind Yanvalou, their partnership with EFI, and creating an ethical swimwear brand.
FN: Tell us about Yanvalou Designs. How did you come up with the concept and where does the name come from?
BW: I came to Haiti after the earthquake and worked in reconstruction. Like most people who get to know Haiti, I fell in love with it. After about a year, I wanted to start a business that allowed me to show everything Haiti has to offer the world… The beauty and spirit of her people, her beaches, mountains, the depth of her culture — so much of which is unknown to most. I also wanted to make a product that was high-end and that could be manufactured in Haiti and that was relevant to Haiti. I had the good fortune to get to know [artists] Frantz Zephirin, Kimy, and Pizaro, and thus Yanvalou Designs was born— original Haitian art adapted to swimwear and beachwear. Yanvalou Beach is our swimwear collection featuring the works of Frantz, Kimy, and Pizaro, but we will use the brand to enter new categories that allow us to market products that reflect different aspects of Haiti’s deep artistic and cultural heritage. The name Yanvalou (yon-va-LOO) is from one of Frantz Zephirin’s paintings that we feature in the collection - the Yanvalou Gods. Yanvalou is a traditional Haitian rhythm and dance.
FN: You’ve not only chosen to make your products ethically, but also support women’s health and livelihood programs. Tell us about your decision and journey to becoming a social enterprise brand.
BW: Our primary objective was to create and market great products and build a strong brand with a global appeal. We wanted to build a business first, and that would be the vehicle for us to achieve our other objectives — showing the beauty of Haiti, promoting tourism and culture, developing local supply chain, and contributing to the advancement of the communities that we are a part of: artists, women, the fashion and apparel industry. We deliberately wanted those relationships to develop organically as our business evolved so we could ensure a good and sustainable strategic fit. As a startup, we focused our initial budget to supporting organizations we were close to. The artists receive royalties, we sponsored a Kolektif 509 contemporary Haitian art exhibit, and we have run promotions to benefit the Center for the Arts in Siloe, a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. The Center provides a safe and nurturing place for young women to learn about the arts, become empowered through the arts and to generate income through their activities in the arts. Frantz Zephirin is an active patron of the work at the Center.
Now that the scope of our enterprise is growing, we are developing relationships with organizations whose long-term strategic objectives align with ours… So education, training, professional development and health and livelihood programs for designers, pattern makers, and sewers. Our work with the EFI is a great example of this kind of evolution and strategic fit. The ultimate goal for us is to build competitive, sustainable product development and manufacturing capacity in Haiti, to offer a good wage for the highly-skilled people we need, and to support them with health and livelihood programs to strengthen their community. This is a long-term effort due to the complexity of the supply chain and the technical rigor of swimwear design and manufacturing, but Haiti is in an excellent competitive position to build lower-volume/higher-margin manufacturing to serve the growing US market of small designers that need good factories, close by, and an efficient cost structure. To give you an idea of the opportunity… Labor is the biggest component of my COGS [Cost of Goods Sold]. My sewers in Los Angeles and NY make $12-15/hour. Haitian sewers make a little over $5/day. That’s a lot of room for Haiti to compete, not to mention the very favorable trade and investment incentives available.
FN: You’re working with the EFI to develop and market hats made by rural Haitian artisans. How did this partnership come about? Are all of your products ethically made? Where and who makes the various products?
BW: The EFI and Yanvalou were introduced by Paula Coles, a leading Haitian designer. Paula has been following the evolution of Yanvalou Designs since its inception and has been a valuable advisor. We were seeking to source accessories in Haiti because the supply chain is in place, and with good design direction and product development assistance, accessories are more readily sourced from Haiti. Making accessories with the EFI was a logical category to develop and the hat program was a perfect fit and a great place to start a sustained collaboration. Our goal is to develop and manufacture all of our products in Haiti, but to get a world-class swimwear line to market in a timely manner we had to work with the highly specialized supply chain that already exists for this very technically demanding product. We source our digitally printed fabrics from leading mills in South Korea, China, Italy, and Brazil and our sewing takes place in LA and NY, where labor and environmental standards are high. The next phase in the development of our supply chain is to move operations to Haiti and instill these best practices.
FN: Amongst Millennials today, there is some skepticism when it comes to sustainable and ethical fashion, e.g. “greenwashing”. What are your comments on this issue?
BW: Customers are rightly skeptical about sustainable and ethical fashion. But this skepticism is healthy because it belies a strong trend and market opportunity: consumers are increasingly socially conscious and want to be a part of brands that reflect their values. This is driving some major structural changes in the industry and it presents a tremendous opportunity for brands like Yanvalou Designs that want to offer unique products that are meaningful to customers as well as the people that make them. The challenge for us is structuring our supply chain and distribution channels to deliver these products at a price that consumers will pay for.
FN: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced as a growing sustainable fashion brand? Any advice for other entrepreneurs out there?
BW: Starting a label is difficult and will demand more of you than you can imagine, so make sure you love what you’re doing. Fashion entrepreneurs need to differentiate themselves in their product and invest in marketing to compete for the consumer’s dollar. Know who your customer is, where they are, and build a relationship with them as early as you can. Keep your goals clear, simple, and don’t lose sight of them because that vision will pull you through. Be prepared to change course because it is not a straight line from concept to reality. Get help and listen to advice because it’s all valid.
FN: You had gorgeous social influencer Rocky Barnes model your latest collection. How did that partnership come about? Do you have any other partnerships coming down the pipeline?
BW: We cast dozens of models before we decided to work with Rocky. Swimwear has very specific requirements when it comes to imagery because fit is so critical to the consumer. Rocky is a world-class swimwear model and she was critical to shooting lookbook photography that shows the quality fit and finish of the product. We are planning more lifestyle shoots in Haiti in the near future, working with Haitian models. For social media, we work with key influencers in certain target markets, such as Sage Erikson who is a top female surfer.
FN: What does the future hold for Yanvalou. Where do you see the brand growing in 2-3 years?
BW: Our main priority in the next 2-3 years is to develop strong sales channels to hit our growth targets, expand into new categories to appeal to more customers, and to move as much of our operations to Haiti as we can.
Find out more about Yanvalou Designs here & The Ethical Fashion Initiative here.
Photography courtesy of Ross Laurence & ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative.
