Before coming to Cambodia, one of my college best friends, Jade, blessed me with a Kindle for my birthday. I have put it to good use over the past couple months, using it for email and Audible. (If you have any other suggestions for what to do with a Kindle – send them my way. I’m still learning!)
In the hustle to get to Cambodia, I wasn’t able to pick up a case to protect my precious present. However, while in the Phnom Penh Airport, heading to Thailand for Christmas. I was killing time, checking out the shops and stumbled across, Smateria, a social good business that makes amazing bags and cases. They were having a Christmas sale and I picked up this beautiful Kindle case, in mermaid blue, for half off! Since, picking up this Kindle case I’ve done a little bit of research on the company and have fallen more and more in love with their mission. I’m a huge fan of organizations, creating beautiful AND functional products and helping women better their situations in the process.
Smateria’s journey begins when founders Jennifer Morellato and Elisa Lion met in Cambodia, sharing a passion for creativity, sustainability, and business. After prototyping their first bags with upcycled and recycled materials, they took the entrepreneurial plunge to transform their ideas into a thriving social enterprise.
Smateria creates bags and accessories that fuse together fashion, playfulness and social consciousness. Their passion lies in taking unusual materials and crafting them into innovative and fashionable bags and accessories, using recycled materials wherever possible. They do this to stretch the boundaries of a material’s usability, quashing the idea that fabrics and materials can only be used for specific purposes.
The founders couldn’t be happier with where this journey has taken them so far. Since beginning in a small garage space in Cambodia 2006, they now have several shops across Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, online stores and distributors that continue to spread their style worldwide.
At Smateria their passions go beyond creating unusual designs. They have a clear mission to employ Cambodian workers in a fair and sustainable way, where employees are treated well and priority is given to the employment of women and mothers. Over 80% of their current employees are women, and they challenge the glass ceiling by ensuring all our staff have equal opportunities to grow and develop within their roles. They offer a free childcare centre on site (like Daughters does). All of their staff receive benefits such as English lessons, double maternity and family support leave, health insurance, savings accounts, and training to develop their skills and careers. All their employees are given paid holiday leave which they must take, so they can ensure they can see their families, take rest, and have a healthy work-life balance. It is their mission to create a safe, happy workplace where Cambodian women are given space to thrive.
Smateria’s workshops are made safer for their employees by following the leading standards for luminosity, space per employee, and ergonomics. The women also receive professional training on fire safety, have regular electrical audits, and professional training to balance health and work. They go by a set of rules to make sure their team has exemplary working conditions. Five days a week, a maximum of eight hours of work per day, sick leave for family matters, and more.
The materials Smateria’s use are important to the mission as they are what guides them to create new, innovative designs, while lowering the impact on the planet. Each season Smateria source, test and design new styles using unusual materials and recycled products. At Smateria, any material has potential. They work with fishing nets (like my Kindle case), upcycled PU leather and plastic bags, and line each bag with upcycled fabrics from factories. Their Diva collection takes inspiration from recycled leather, while Remix brings new life to plastic bags. They play with color and fishing nets to create their Net collection (I think this is the collection my Kindle case comes from). Working with these different materials takes time and care – every centimeter needs to be checked for imperfections, and specific processes are adopted to make the designs strong and reliable, as well as stylish. 16 people check each and every product to ensure they have been made with care and perfection.
Ever been to Cambodia? What is your favorite Social Good Business?