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Andes Village

Scarves with a Soul | Fair trade women’s fashion from the Andes.

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Brand

Why is the name Andes Village?

We don’t just want to sell cool products— we want to build community. So, we’ve gathered a group of people to form our own little village. We have a small group of vendors and designers in Ecuador, with whom we do all business, and an even smaller group consisting of a web developer, a consultant, and a writer in the US who take care of logistics on the other end.

We have bonded over this project and formed our own village. That’s how we came up with the name! We are business partners, but we’re also a community, and everybody has their own job to do in order to contribute to the success of the group. We’re the Andes Village.

How did you get the idea to sell sustainably sourced products?
Our founder, Stephanie, got the idea to import textiles from the Andean region on her first trip to the Andes over ten years ago. She was only 16 years old, but she knew that her friends back home would enjoy the textiles as much as she did, so she brought back two suitcases full of scarves, sweaters, and jewelry to give as gifts and sell to boutiques. Unfortunately, most of the shop owners weren’t too impressed with a teenager who had no background in business! Stephanie scrapped the idea for a while.
 
In college, she learned about globalization and development, and became interested in the fascinating work that many non-profits were doing in developing countries. She spent a year studying abroad in Ecuador, where she delved into learning about the economy and how its changes affected the lives of the people. She also visited Otavalo— the city that hosts largest indigenous market in South America, and studied how the particular Andean ethnic group of the region had adapted to the global economy while managing to preserve many of their traditions and their language.
 
After college, she worked a variety of jobs and saved up enough money to make several trips back to Ecuador, forming relationships with vendors and waking up at the crack of dawn to comb through the products offered in tiny market towns in the Andes. She made her first purchase (only 20 scarves— she was on a budget, after all!) and sold all of the scarves in one day back in the US. After a few more plane rides and lucky meetings with the right people, she got a small team together, and the result is what you see before you.
Why Ecuador?

Every country in South and Central America produces its own unique designs and totally cool products, but Stephanie, our founder, ended up in Ecuador by way of a lucky accident. After having all of her leads fall through, she finally looked at Ecuador— it was a small country, but hey, it had mountains! So, she hopped on a plane and never looked back. She met friendly artisans in the highlands, as well as kind entrepreneurs who showed her the ropes and helped her launch a website. Andes Village is the result of this group of people coming together.

What else does the brand say?
We want to provide high quality, stylish products. We are going for a polished, trendy look that makes the wearer stand out, while still being appropriate for a variety of social and work settings.
 
Modern women are making their way into every profession, hobby, and social setting. We offer a variety of products that can be taken on a ski trip, a hike, to a coffee shop or museum hopping, to a family gathering or a big party. Aside from socializing and leisure, many of our products are appropriate for work settings.
 
All of our scarves can be incorporated into a business casual look and will be right at home in the office, the classroom, at a conference, or a meeting. 
Our sincere effort is to blend the traditions of the Andes with the modern woman’s lifestyle. 
 
In addition to creating a brand fit for the modern woman, we wanted to create a business that invests in marginalized women. We make it a point to source our products from women-led, family businesses. This sends money earned from selling their products back into Andean communities, not to larger companies based elsewhere. Strong small businesses boost individuals and families up, in turn creating strong communities where everyone thrives.

© Andes Village 2017 Luxury Women's Accessories Crafted with by MQ.

Luxury Women's Accessories

© Andes Village 2017

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