Manifiesta is one of the clothing brands integrated by ex-FARC combatants in Colombia.
They learned to sew in clandestine tailor shops in the middle of the jungle. For years they made uniforms, vests, tents and supplies for the war. Life for a group of former FARC combatants changed so much after the signing of the peace agreement that they are now featured in the most important fashion showcases in Colombia. For the first time, Colombiamoda and Colombiatex saw the work of Confecciones La Montaña, Manifiesta Made in Colombia, Tejiendo Paz or Fariana, some of the clothing brands that ex-combatants created as a project to reintegrate themselves into society.
"We came to Colombiamoda to learn, to grow as a company, to interact with various actors, to gamble on the path we have chosen, but above all we came to leave the war behind," wrote Andrés Zuluaga, director of Confecciones La Montaña Voluntad de Paz , which makes backpacks, hammocks, hiking boots and groups ex-guerrillas from the 36th front of the extinct FARC, northeast of Antioquia.
That of these peace signers is perhaps one of the best known brands.
But according to the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN), there are at least 64 productive projects of ex-combatants that are related to textiles.
From Icononzo, in Tolima, four hours from Bogotá, Juan Perea, who spent 14 years in the FARC, speaks with pride about the Cooperativa Mulitactiva del Común Tejiendo Paz, and the Telario 2020 collection, which they launched last December.
"It is not only about seeking economic income to live, but also about transmitting various messages alluding to peace and connecting with the people of the community," says Perea, better known as Gonzalo, his alias during the war.
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Chocoano, 45, had no idea of clothing but has learned from design to management.
Now he is the manager and dreams of positioning the Avanza brand.
"First we designed and made empirically, but we started working with a designer from civil society and we produced the first collection, we are preparing another one," he says.
Telario 2020, designed by Daniela Castellanos, is inspired by the trees they knew in the jungle and which were stamped on dresses and shirts.
In addition, the labels of each garment bring information about those trees.
His goal is to share his teachings about nature and the jungle through fashion.
Fashion projects have brought together ex-combatants with young supporters of the peace agreement.
This is the case of Ángela Herrera and a group of political science students who founded Manifiesta Colombia after volunteering with ex-combatants.
"Our commitment is to send a message through garments: that fashion is a means of creation and jobs for people who face discrimination due to their past, in a country as polarized as this, and who are new to immersion in the world. working market.
In other words, using fashion as a tool to build peace ”says Herrera.
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One of Manifiesta Colombia's garments.
His collections loaded with messages have been seen in the Plaza de Bolívar, in front of the Government Palace, in Congress and at fashion fairs. The models also carry posters calling for the peace agreement to be implemented or for the killing of ex-combatants to stop. Manifiesta also employs victims of violence and a group of young people who are in charge of marketing. They have sent more than 6,000 garments throughout the country and in each one of them they tell the story of those who made them. “The story behind the garments is important to us. Thus, in other cities they know the story of Ruth, Gonzalo or Yorlenis. A garment that says it supports peace and is made by ex-combatants is more significant, it is coherence ”, affirms Herrera.
The pandemic has posed a challenge for ex-combatants who are bidding to enter this industry. In northern Colombia, Tierra Grata and Fariana confecciones went from producing jeans, sweatshirts and caps to making masks. Janeidis Martínez, who spent 19 years in the guerrillas sewing camouflages, now makes aprons and uniforms for nurses and runs the textile factory where 10 women work. "We still don't have enough to live because there is no safe market but we keep trying," he says from La Guajira, in northern Colombia. His project was selected by the United Nations Verification Mission as a Rapid Impact Project and received financial support.
Diosenel Criado, an experienced tailor who sewed camouflages for 16 years in the guerrillas, is a member of Fariana Confecciones. UN Verification Mission in Colombia
Also from the Caribbean, Jhon Alvarrán, another veteran, assures that the showcase of the fashion fairs represents an impulse that gives them hope.
"It is not easy to get out of an economy in armed conflict to a real one," he says.
“For us it is very important to show our products to the world and to generate alliances with entrepreneurs.
It is the best way to help us in the reincorporation ”.
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