Hello !
After only 2 hours flight, we arrive in Porto. Our program: meet Cristina, the owner of the factory with which Made & More is going to work for a part of the collections.
At 4pm we arrive at the factory. Cristina makes the visit of her factory. It’s a small factory with 3 floors and about 10 persons working there. They cut, sew, make the patterns and pack.
Our visit timing is perfect as the skirt dress we are producing there is now being prototyped. We start to film and meet Tatiana, the one in charge of the patterns. She’s just been hired and she’s young. Cristina is very happy of her work and they work together so that Cristina trains her and shares her experience. She show us how she makes the pattern of the dress on the computer and finally prints it on a big printer.
Then we went upstairs to cut the fabrics. We meet Gloria. She is the one in charge of the cutting. She has a beautiful smile and she is very very precise when cutting. That part of the process is very important.
Our big blue linen roll is placed, and the magic happens. Pieces are first cut by hand, then with a cutting machine for the rounded pieces.
Next step: sewing.
It’s already 6pm and the girls (Crisitna call them « my girls ») are going back home. They start at 9 am and finish their day at 6pm. Tomorrow they will sew the parts and will finish the prototype.
We finish the day with discussions about the future and the future collections.
To sum up, I would say this day was magic.
Cristina is 61. She’s always worked in the fashion industry. She know her job and she has a very very big heart (sometimes too big ;)). She is everywhere, always available for « her girls ». She arrives at 7 in the morning and leaves at 7 or 8 pm. I can feel humility, passion for work but also how these women are courageous. The sewing ladies are welcoming us with a smile. They are experts. Cristina puts her hands in every steps, cutting, patterns, sewing. She assists everyone. In a word, this is small but dynamic factory, held by humility and courage. A magic which is worth it.
The second day will be dedicated to pictures of the staff and validate the prototype so that we can start the production.
See you tomorrow for our second day travel report !
Stéphanie
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