MADE IN PERU BY ARTISANS WITH LOVE | PART 1

This past April, Co-founder: Catherine Carnevale was due to travel to Lima, Peru on her biennial trip to meet with ELEVEN SIX artisan work-shop groups - new and existing. The trip was postponed due to the pandemic world-wide crisis. Catherine worked with one of her workshops to navigate getting some photo coverage and to conduct small interviews with the work-shop head artisans after Lima began to slowly open. “The artisans are the heart, soul and roots of the brand so it's important for me to try to share a small window into the ’behind the scenes’ and to show the makers 'in process' that craft the sustainable knitwear collections we proudly present” states Catherine. More than ever, we have been humbled and deeply grateful that these small family and safely quarantined, work-shops have still been able to continue to produce our knitwear through these unprecedented times.

Meet Olga - head artisan and owner of the workshop that makes and crafts our Fall 20 Tia sweater and Charlie Cardi. | Olga is at the linking machine...a machine that closes the garments seams as well as attaches the neck and cuff trims on to the sweater.

INTERVIEW with OLGA ARTEAGA

Who taught you to knit?

I was practically born among sweaters. I taught myself by watching my parents work in their workshop. In fact, my father did not want me to be involved in the business. He wanted me to go to college. Nevertheless, I decided to help my parents and I did not continue studying (laughter). I dedicated myself to this line of work.

What are the benefits of working from home?

One of the biggest advantages of working from home is that I am close to my daughter. This allows me to participate more actively in her upringing and education.

What encourages you to continue in this field?

I have a lot of personal goals to reach, such as exporting more and buying my own home. I think that knitting is going to help me make this happen.

Like all work, your job has moments of tension. How do you experience it?

The world of sweaters at times can be very stressful. Although it’s true that even when we decide the production times when we create a sample, problems always arise. A manual knitting machine can break down, there might be a power failure… In these cases, we have to work on Sundays and holidays. But, despite all the inconveniences that might arise, this is something that I enjoy doing. 

What would you like foreigners to know about the effort or work required to make clothing by hand?

I would like them to know that not only do we do this work with tenderness and patience, we also do it with great effort. 

What is the most difficult about being an entrepreneur?

The responsibility. But it also has its good side: the satisfaction we feel when the work is done as the client requests.

What is the biggest challenge that you have faced in your workshop?

To purchase very expensive manual knitting machines. It was a huge effort for my husband and I to travel to Japan, to work and save money. We left our daughter here in Peru, which was a very large sacrifice. 

What do you most like about working for ELEVEN SIX?

It’s a challenge to be able to make their styles. At times, some of them are difficult since they have a lot of colors and the designs are special.

Meet Gabrina...Gabrina works on quality control at the workshop