The concept for Femmes des rizières was developed in 2017. The idea about Femmes des rizières was to create a brand under which we can commercialize the work of the tailors’ atelier within the Safe House in Battambang, Cambodia. The tailors’atelier is now in its fourth year and there have been around 40 young women who have been trained to be a tailor so far.
The idea is to allow them to work independently and to earn their living in order to make them financially autonomous while keeping their flexibility needed to take care of their children.
«Femmes des rizières» – The women from the rice fields – is based on two competitive advantages, that is firstly, the existence of a vocational training for tailors plus a fully equipped tailor workshop and secondly, the incredible attention for details shown by Cambodian women when it comes to doing handicrafts to make their own accessories. As they cannot afford to buy a lot of things, they make the best out of what they have and produce their own accessories – love for detail can be very helpful for the development of the brand.
We strive to produce clothes from locally produced fabric and suitable for the hot and humid climate of Cambodia in order to be able to promote the brand locally as well as internationally. The pieces will be chic, easy to wear and provide the perfect match for hot weather conditions, therefore the brand will be positioned as «Beach Couture».
We were looking for a garment that was typical for Cambodia and would comply with our search for authenticity. What better than a Krama? The Krama is a traditional Cambodian garment with multiple uses : it is worn as scarf, to cover the face as a protection from sun or dust, for decorative purposes, as children’s hammock… Traditionally, the kramas contain a gingham pattern of some sort. The Krama ist he Cambodian national symbol.
We decided to use this wonderful garment as an integral part of the collection, which is 100% handmade in Cambodia.
Distribution will be local, i.e. in Siam Reap as well as in other touristy Cambodian destinations, in hotels and souvenir shops. We are striving to get shop-in-shop space in different locations in order to sustain a rather upscale price positioning.
Core values of «Femmes des rizières»
- Beautiful – We are inspired by the beauty of the Cambodian Apsaras (temple dancers)
- Ethical – We provide job opportunities for young adults.
- Quality – Our handmade products are made with love and great skills.
- Feminine – Our inspiration is the feminity of the Cambodian women.
- Attention to detail – Our products reflect the innate Cambodian love for detail.
- Functional chic
- Cost transparency
- Slow Fashion
- Respectful – We treat all our employees, business partners and clients with utmost respect.
- Local: We only source original Cambodian raw materials and 100% made in Cambodia.
Inspiration
The logo was inspired by the Apsaras, the nymphs and goddesses of Angkor Wat. They are depicted as beautiful dancing girls on the temple walls and reliefs of Angkor. They are figures of Hindu mythology: beautiful dancing girls who are the wives of the Ghandarvas. The Ghandarvas are the court servants of Indra, king of the demi-gods, and they make the music to which their wives dance in the celestial palaces.
According to Hindu legend, the «elixir of immortality» was lost in the mythological Ocean of Milk and the gods went looking for it. It is said that these goddesses were born from the ocean of milk; water nymphs that were pulled from the ocean by the Hindu Devas (gods); Visuki, the god of serpents and a group of morally corrupt demons, the Asuras.
The sultry adventures of the nymphs are recounted in the Mahabharata, in which they are described as having ultimate power over both moral and immortal males due to their unsurpassed beauty and elegance.
These divine creatures are said to have the ability to change their forms and as the willing servants of Indra they used their seductive charms and beautiy to seduce mortals, kings and wise men who may have threatened Indra’s power. The goddesses would appear to men with their torsos bare and their wrists and ankles adorned with gold.
This inspiration should become our anthem to all women or better to the Apsare in every woman.
Similar to nymphs, fairies or even angels, the Aparas represent the pure and fragile side of feminity.
As goddesses they used to spend their time dancing, laughing and singing and in doing so they provided the world with the opportunity to contemplate their beauty. But times have changed and the Apsaras adapted. Study, work, travel… in their own interest they learned to hide occasionally.
But they never ceased to exist… and you know that because you are them – all women of this world.
You represent this new and discrete beauty, this delicateness one cannot get enough of, the sweetness of this planet, the Apsaras of the 21st century.
Femmes des rizières…
This brand is for you as well as for us. Friends, mothers, daughters, sisters or partners… this brand is about women and about the secret Apsara in every woman.
Here we are surrounded by paddy fields. No matter where, on the beach, in the mountains or in the desert …. There are extraordinary women everywhere.
Our creations come from the paddy fields but are for all the women in this world.
State of Affairs
Since July 5, 2018, Gabriella Friedmann is working as volunteer designer fort he project Femmes des rizières in Battambang. The initially planned three months have been extended to five months. The talented young Designer is 22 years old and graduated from the famous fashion school L’Atelier Chardon-Savard with a master degree in fashion design. She gained her first practical design experience with an intership at the Parisian avant-garde label «Minime» and working for the French ski and sportswear label «Black Crow» in Chamonix. Apart from her passion for design, she loves travelling, hiking, skiing, writing and music. Moreover Gabrielle is interested in philosophy and psychology and has recently developed a strong interest in stone healing (lithotherapy). Here you can read an interview with Gabrielle shortly before she left for Cambodia.
In this blog article you can read about the Making of Femmes des rizières. Gabrielle is working very hard and intense on the development of the collection as well as on the fabrication of the prototypes.
We are looking for
In order to prepare the official launch of the brand we are looking for volunteers to develop the website and in particular we are looking for a content manager with the following skills:
Requirements
- BSc degree in communication/marketing/business informatics as well as further education in digital marketing
- Experience with common online marketing tools
- Knowledge of SEO and web traffic metrics
- Passion for all kinds of digital marketing technologies
- Passion and familiarity with social media
- Curious and readiness of mind, teamplayer and initiative
- Good organizational and problem solving skills
- Excellent writing skills in your mother tongue (German/English or French) and English proficiency
- Hands on experience with MS Office and WordPress
Responsibilities
- Develop layout
- Reseach trends and competitors
- Ratio text/pictures
- Product presentation
- Story telling
- Develop content and structure of website as well as webshop
- Develop content strategy
- Prepare launch of e-commerce
- Editorial calendar for blog
- Develop newsletter and e-mail campagns
- Optimize content according to SEO
- Prepare content (text/pictures/videos)
- SEO
- Coordinate and prepare social media activities
- Definition of influencer
- Creation and management of a community
- Editorial calendar
- Themes
- Manage content distribution to online channels and social media platforms to increase web traffic
- Organise network with future content writers/bloggers/volunteers
- Organize translations
We offer
- Hands on experience in non-profit area
- Motivated and international team
- Independent work with potential
- Internship with huge potential for you CV
- Satisfying work experience as you are providing you women with the perspective for a better future
If your are interested, please contact us here.
