Peace must be sewn, stitch by stitch.<\/p>\n
With this idea in mind, Ms. Avella set herself to work at a small sewing workshop in Catatumbo, Colombia, one of the dividends of the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian Government and FARC rebels, designed to help reintegrate former combatants, and heal the wounds of the conflict.<\/p>\n
Like many former fighters, she was looking for a way to rebuild her life after the war, and the workshop served as a space for training, care and empowerment for women that would contribute to preventing gender-based violence \u2013 a place where they could learn a trade, support each other and regain confidence in the midst of a territory marked by violence.<\/p>\n
Along with several other women, Ms. Avella set up Stitches for Peace, which began making sweatshirts, T-shirts and uniforms. But in 2021 the project took an unexpected turn towards high fashion.<\/p>\n
At an initiative led by the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, she met Lina Garc\u00e9s, an economist trained at the Externado University and the founder of a second-hand clothing boutique called Lina’s Closet, in C\u00facuta.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms. Garc\u00e9s used to say that her shop sold \u201csecond-chance clothes,\u201d a phrase that would soon take on a new meaning.<\/p>\n
Ms. Garc\u00e9s agreed to participate, although not without reservations. Her personal history was marked by the armed conflict, and her family had been victims of a kidnapping, which left painful memories.<\/p>\n
However, she decided to travel to Ca\u00f1o Indio, in the middle of the Catatumbo jungle, where she found a place very different from the fashion world in which she worked: prefabricated accommodations, zinc roofs, unpaved roads and communal bathrooms.<\/p>\n
But she also found something she did not expect: talent. \u201cThe women had an impressive ability,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThe one who sewed did it with incredible precision; the one who cut had the pulse of a professional.\u201d Many had learned to handle needle and thread during the war, mending uniforms or boots. Now that knowledge wove another story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Katerine Avella and Lina Garc\u00e9s celebrate the creation of the Ixora brand\u2019s skirts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The skirts of Ixora and reconciliation\u00a0<\/h2>\n
For fifteen days they worked intensely on designs, sizing and finishes. From those days was born the idea of creating wraparound skirts with prints inspired by the Ixora flower, a plant that blooms all year round and symbolizes resistance and perseverance in Catatumbo.<\/p>\n
As a result of all the workshops, the brand ‘Ixora, inclusive and autonomous’ was born. By the end of 2021, they already had a first collection, which they presented at the Julio P\u00e9rez library in C\u00facuta. The parade brought together victims of the conflict and peace signatories on the same catwalk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sometime later, during a discussion at the C\u00facuta Book Fair, where they were invited to tell their story, Ms. Garc\u00e9s told her family history for the first time before the public. As she spoke, Ms. Avella listened to her in silence. Ms. Garc\u00e9s said in front of the audience: \u201cFor me, today they are sensitive women, who want to move forward. For my part, there was forgiveness; now I want to support them and let more people know their work so that we can live in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The skirts began to be sold through Ms. Garc\u00e9s’s store and soon other designers were interested in the initiative. Ixora began appearing in fashion shows in Tib\u00fa, Oca\u00f1a and Bogot\u00e1, and in 2022 they arrived for the first time at Colombiamoda, the most important textile fair in the country. They did so again in 2023 and 2024, as special guests, on the catwalk.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Collections\/Production%20Library\/08-04-26_Colombia_Peace_Fashion5.jpg\/image1024x768.jpg\" "\\"Women")
\n<\/div>\nWomen from the Ixora brand at the trade show following the conclusion of a garment-making workshop organized by UNVMC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Violence returns<\/h2>\n
However, this story of reconciliation, entrepreneurship and peace was strongly affected in January last year, when violence intensified again in this region. There were massive displacements, murders of social leaders and ex-combatants, and thousands of families were forced to leave their homes.<\/p>\n
The sewing workshop had to close. \u201cThe women didn’t want to go back out of fear,\u201d Ms. Avella recalls. At that time, the priority was to protect life.<\/p>\n
Paradoxically, in the midst of that crisis came news that they had been waiting for months: Ixora had been officially registered as a trademark in Colombia by the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce. But they decided not to celebrate. \u201cIt wasn’t the time,” Ms. Avella says. “There was too much uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today the project is going through a forced pause. The sewing machines are still in Ca\u00f1o Indio, while the women are waiting for guarantees to be able to move to a new, more secure space in a rural area of C\u00facuta.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hope for the future<\/h2>\n
Even so, the story of Ixora is not over. The brand has just won a project with the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) to accompany other women in self-care and psychological support processes. It is a new stage for Ixora, which now seeks not only to generate income, but also to offer a space of well-being for those who have lived through the impacts of the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project is a dream,\u201d says Ms. Avella serenely. \u201cBeyond the economic side, it means keeping our association alive and showing that we can build something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the women wait for the moment to turn the machines back on. In Catatumbo, where so many stories end abruptly, Like the flower that gives it its name, there is hope that Ixora will bloom again, even in the most difficult conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n