Manos Del Uruguay
The Manos Story
Manos Del Uruguay was
created in 1968 looking for a way to help women in
Uruguay’s countryside to
generate income.
When developing their
products they looked to the
natural materials that they had to hand, wool in
particular, and also to use the traditional skills that they had inherited.
They spin, dye, knit and weave the products that are later sold in the worlds most sophisticated markets.
Today, Manos is a co-operative of 400 women, but during peak export periods, they are working with as many as 1200 women.
Manos products
Manos colours are their trademark. the secret lies in the
patient kettle dyeing in small pots using precise colour recipes.
This crafted process creates the sybtle nuances in their
striated colours as well as the fantastic shading of the space dyed.
Manos and the WFTO
In 2009, after a long and exhaustive evaluating process,
Manos del Uruguay was admitted as a full member of WFTO (Word Fair Trade
Organization), the global representative body of over 350 organizations
committed to 100% Fair Trade.
WFTO members are organizations differentiated by
their 100% Fair Trade commitment to eradicate poverty through
sustainable economic development; pioneering social and environmental
policy and practice and continual reinvestment in marginalized artisans,
farmers and producer communities in some of the most fragile places on
earth, practices that Manos del Uruguay has been applying for 40 years.
