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CosmoQueen Astrid Ras founded CosmoQueen in 2005. Beautiful, exclusive shawls, designed by Astrid and produced by women in Jordan and Cambodia. Fair Trade fashion is about allowing underprivileged women to work towards economic and social independence. Glam talks to Astrid and Chairperson Ginel van Weering about CosmoQueen. +' $ D8ID7:G '%&&
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Women Empowerment One of the people CosmoQueen supports is Jamila. She lives and works in a workshop in Jordan, together with her colleagues. She is one of the women who produce CosmoQueen shawls. This allows Jamila to pay for her children's school fees herself, as a single mother in a country with extremely high unemployment rates. But CosmoQueen goes way beyond this. It also assists the workshops with producing goods for the local markets. With new embroidery machines, looms and computers. Astrid: "This reduces the dependence on CosmoQueen sales and also ensures we are contributing to a real independent future for women like Jamila and her colleagues in the long term. CosmoQueen provides people with work, not just money." Astrid is a fashion designer and started her own design agency in Amsterdam in 1982. Astrid and her current partner launched the designer fashion brand Daybreak in 1984. The brand did so well that it was at one point even for sale in London's Harrods. Eventually the brand was sold and she is now involved with corporate identity collections for large organisations. She started to feel restless in 2005 ... "A friend of mine was planning a trip to Jordan and asked if I wanted to come along. I really felt a strong need to do my bit for society. I met Queen Noor in Jordan and this is how it all started. Queen Noor is committed to helping Jordan's underprivileged women, for example via micro credits. The CosmoQueen idea was discussed with her at the time and this eventually resulted in the formation of the CosmoQueen Foundation." CosmoQueen is an independent foundation and tries to give as many women as possible a socially and economically independent existence. "The designs are produced by the women in Jordan and now also in Cambodia and we sell these in the Western world. All the money earned goes back to these women again, ensuring they can lead an economically independent existence." The work carried out by the women in Jordan and Cambodia, as well as the material, production means and the eventual transport, is all paid for. The remainder of CosmoQueen's activities and processes are run by volunteers.
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Projects in Jordan and Cambodia "Every woman has her own speciality in Jordan. There is still a real sewing and embroidery culture there. These techniques have been optimally used in the beautiful hand-woven and painted materials used for the CosmoQueen designs. All our shawls, plaids and other items are still being produced by hand, piece by piece." The Cambodian women specifically specialise in weaving various different types of silk. The expertise required for the weaving and painting is traditionally passed down from mother to daughter. The women use this knowledge and expertise to produce the most magnificent shawls and plaids for CosmoQueen. Each item is 100% original. "I always take what the women are very good at into account with my designs. A design is therefore always a fusion of cultures: authentic handicrafts and materials closely linked with Western design and quality standards," she says The women have learned to use their traditional skills in contemporary designs in the Jordan and Cambodia studios, under CosmoQueen's careful guidance.
Board CosmoQueen is managed by a board. "I asked Ginel van Weering to become our Chairperson. She worked for Pink Ribbon (www.pinkribbon.nl) on a voluntary basis alongside her regular job for a long time. Ginel felt that it was a very appealing idea that CosmoQueen provides direct support, has good contact with the women and knows exactly what these women need. And this ensures we can also carry out effective checks," Says Astrid. Ginel adds: "The board is made up of a number of professional women. The important strategic, sales, communication, organisational and political positions have all been filled. Every person has her own specific area of expertise. I bring these women together and try to apply a structure which will serve to reach CosmoQueen's goals. We have formulated a number of objectives for 2015: The women we are currently working with need to be given a sufficient amount of work and we also want to launch one or two projects in other countries. We want to make sure we don't just provide them with orders for producing shawls, but to also make education and resources available to them, which will stimulate them to be active within their own local markets, which will ultimately result in them also being able to support their own families without CosmoQueen's help." +) $ D8ID7:G '%&&
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Shawls, plaids and corporate gifts CosmoQueen started out with producing shawls for ladies. There are now also shawls for gents, which are enjoying excellent sales levels too. Plus plaids and corporate gifts also form part of the collection. "I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to accompany a group of business people on a trip to Jordan. I was able to tell these people about CosmoQueen on the plane and the travel organiser had offered to present the entire group with a shawl. And a major Dutch postal company decided to give all its employees a custom made CosmoQueen shawl depicting the corporate logo in 2009. Fantastic assignments. And this naturally makes the women who produce them all very proud too!"
Volunteers, sponsors and companies CosmoQueen is incredibly happy with the sponsor money collected every year with the organisation of, for example, a Regatta, as well as the boundless efforts the volunteers put into organising a sale. The products are mainly sold via private sales and sales events. You can find all possible information on the www. cosmoqueen.nl website. The board is always on the look out for sponsors and volunteers. "And companies who also want to become involved with underprivileged people through their corporate gifts. The sponsor money will also allow us to make extra donations for education and resources," Ginel says. "The fact that there are women out there in the world who can feed their families, send their children to school and therefore work on a better future for subsequent generations thanks to CosmoQueen's intervention is something which makes me very happy," says Astrid. Ginel adds: "This year we collected money for the looms in Cambodia, which means the women don't need to go to the bank for a loan which they will spend the rest of their lives paying off. Direct support and provisions in places where it's needed the most. It's fantastic to be part of something this worthwhile." www.cosmoqueen.nl
Marlene Naicker is Founder and Creative Director of Muldooneys â&#x20AC;&#x201C; London. The brand Muldooneys is renowned for its luxury leather accessories, notably handbags, designed for sophisticated, independent, fashion concious women. D8ID7:G '%&& $ +*