Muyu Shigras

The most staple plant in Ecuador and across much of South America is the Agave plant. From this humble Catus comes Tequilla but also native bags. These shigras are bags weaved with Cabuya which is the local name in the country for hemp fibre woven usually by women in the heritage communities. This was a project to elevate the bags to designer status whilst supporting local communities. To create a sustainable, heritage, fully living wage support for local women and to support all children going to school whilst protecting the local environment empower the community from within.

About the project

A project by three enterprising proud Ecuadorians who wanted to start to import them to the UK and then globally the heritage craft of Shigra bags. Jo and her team came to the project from inspection, allowing for massive input from the company’s fundamental brand values, designs, and business plan. This is an on-going project, green, women-led, and heritage project.

The Brief

These inspiring Ecuadorians had an idea that blossomed with the help of .Cent Creative into a brand strategy, visual identity, naming and sustainability markers. We managed the entire process, starting with building the core ethos and brand values, name, colour palette, and brand tone of voice all the way to sourcing manufacturing, fair trade pricing, etc. Included in the core brand plan were cooperatives for the women, education for village children, sustainability, traceability and care of the natural surrounding environment – including the use of natural dyes and care of the local natural resources, sourcing manufacturing processes that were not harmful, as well as diving deep into each level of manufacturing, processing, and distribution and market placement. A truly circular, economic, caring business model.

The Result

This is an ongoing project so please check here for updates.

The Client Response