The Prada Group has expanded its fashion training program to Querétaro, Mexico, according to a Monday press release shared with Fashion Dive. The initiative offers women experience in weaving and embroidery and helps them strengthen technical, artistic and financial skills, per the release.
The training program, called Fashion Expressions: The Stories She Wears, is in partnership with UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. The stated goal of the program is to use fashion as a catalyst to promote women’s empowerment and sexual reproductive health.
The expansion to Mexico comes after the original program launched in Ghana and Kenya in 2021. That initiative trained 43 participants on fashion industry skills and facilitated industrial attachments and employment opportunities for trainees with local fashion houses, per the release.
“The beauty of the UNFPA partnership with the Prada Group is that it places creativity at the center of building inclusive communities for women and girls,” Mariarose Cutillo, chief of strategic partnerships for UNFPA, said in the release. “We have seen the impact of this model in Africa, using fashion to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, and women’s economic empowerment, and are excited to see the results it can have for the women artisans from Querétaro, Mexico.”
The program includes a six-month series of training sessions and workshops and will likewise be followed by an opportunity for industrial attachments “under the leadership and guidance of experienced fashion professionals,” per the release. The expansion to Mexico began in September 2023 with a select group of 30 mothers between the ages of 18 and 50 who are supporting their families.
The group included skilled embroiderers and weavers who wanted to strengthen their production techniques and marketing skills, per the release. Before joining the program, they were already working independently as artisans in small workshops.
Prada and UNFPA have also partnered with nonprofit Nest, which will help participants with business development skills and financial literacy.
“Through this partnership with UNFPA, we have witnessed how fashion combined with education, can become a powerful instrument of change and empowerment, complemented by the participants' natural and effortless skills,” Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada group head of corporate social responsibility, said in the release. “Our goal is to empower and instill hope for a brighter future to all involved as we continue our mission of building a more inclusive society.”
Prada is set to report its full year 2023 earnings later this week.
