Levi Strauss & Co. has partnered with Mercado Global to empower
Indigenous female artisans in Guatemala, while simultaneously
providing free protective face masks to groups in need throughout the
U.S. and Latin America.
Mercado Global is an ethical fashion nonprofit that connects
Indigenous women in rural Guatemala to the international fashion
industry, to help bring their craftsmanship and talents to a wider
scale. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the organization has
shifted to producing face coverings.
Levi’s has given Mercado Global 7,000 yards of its deadstock denim
to help the organization produce 55,000 non-medical grade masks.
Mercado Global masks have been donated to hospitals and retirement
homes, postal workers, housing authority residents, communities
affected by HIV/AIDS in Mexico and Brazil, migrant farmworkers in
California, migrant communities in Texas, Black Lives Matter in
Brooklyn, and Indigenous communities in Guatemala.
“The Levi Strauss Foundation is proud to support Mercado Global’s
innovative and responsive shift to produce functional, beautiful and
most importantly ethically made face coverings,” Kim Almeida, director
at The Levi Strauss Foundation, said in a statement. “This effort
builds on a long partnership between the Foundation and Mercado
Global; it is wonderful to know that Mercado Global has found ways to
continue safely employing indigenous Guatemalan artisans during this
unprecedented time.”
Image: Levi Strauss Foundation
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