sisterly collection - the story behind the collaboration

Inspired by womankind, an ode to our strength, our resilience & our sisterhood.

At simétrie, we are so excited to reveal our collaboration with SisterWorks, a handcrafted collection of linen canvas totes & zip pouches, which has been in the making since the first lockdown in Melbourne.

Amira & Macarena from SisterWorks

The SisterWorks Collaboration

Originally, this collection was to be produced by the talented sewer, Amira,  from SisterWorks -  a social enterprise that supports female refugees, asylum seekers or migrants to become economically empowered. In the past, we have worked with Amira to produce our dust bags that house & protect all simétrie leather pieces. Due to COVID-19 & Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne, we had to put this on hold to ensure the safety of Amira & their members. 

In order to share this wonderful collection with you, a very limited number of pieces were created by Simone in our Melbourne atelier. Staying true to the original nature of this collaboration, 10% of the sales from these first pieces will be donated to SisterWorks with the hope that they will be able to produce re-orders of this collection in the future as well as involve Amira in the production of other simétrie collections. 

Commissioned illustration by Bianca Balliro

Artist - Bianca Balliro

The artwork screen printed on our totes was created by the incredibly talented illustrative artist, Bianca Balliro, which pays homage to the beautifully diverse female form & sisterhood. As a friend of simétrie since our inception, Bianca Balliro’s illustrations can be found throughout our website & on our socials.

Bianca's illustration & our simétrie eye printed on our linen canvas by OPM design

Screen printers - Owen & Gioia

As plans were constantly changing due to production issues surrounding the lockdown, Owen & Gioia, screen printers from OPM design, came to the rescue. It was the work of Owen & Gioia that brought this collection to life, allowing for Bianca Balliro’s illustration to be screen printed onto the Sisterly Totes using earth-friendly dyes. 

Process & Production Engineer at SisterWorks - Macarena

Another important contributor to this collection is Macarena, the Process & Production Engineer at SisterWorks, where she oversees all of the production, product development & procurement activity. Originally from a city called Puerto Varas in the South of Chile, Macarena used to work as a Project Engineer in an Innovation & Development Center supporting local entrepreneurs to develop their business. 

Now, Macarena supports the SisterWorks team by orchestrating & overseeing the daily production activity to create high-quality artisan products that are sold in their shop, online & via corporate channels. The most rewarding part of her role at SisterWorks is seeing her team of women grow & become more empowered every day.

At the start of COVID, Macarena pioneered the SisterWorks face mask initiative to support the community at large as well as help the social enterprise to survive the financially hard months ahead. Online instructions and videos on how to manufacture the reusable face masks were created by Macarena to enable her team to create them from the safety of their homes. So far, SisterWorks have supported more than 70 women working from home, sold more than 50,000 reusable masks & donated more than 2,000 masks to the community in need.

 Amira produced the latest production of dust bags that we use to package our leather goods

The evolution of the collaboration

Our first collaboration with SisterWorks began with our dust bags & it has since evolved into a magical time of growth & empowerment for both brands. As Macarena pointed out,  “simétrie & SisterWorks work under the same base concept - Made with love in Melbourne.”

At simétrie, we can’t wait to see how this collaboration evolves & we are so excited to have Amira making the future Sisterly Collection & other simétrie pieces.

We look forward to sharing it all with you. ♡

The Sisterly Collection is now sold out xx