Youn Sone was born in 2018, in Myanmar, to promote women's employment and promote traditional Burmese know-how, through sewing. Yvonne Altorfer, co-founder and head of sales in Europe, joined forces with the French association Trendethics, in early 2023, to create Opportunity for Women. Presentation of this new project, led by women, for women, on the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8, 2023.
2018: creation of Youn Sone
It all started with a wallet. In 2018, Julia Naw, a trainer at YLDC in Myanmar, had the idea of using Longyi, traditional skirts worn by Burmese women and men, to make wallets for sale. Assisted in her business by international volunteers, her goal was to use sewing to promote women's employment while promoting local traditional know-how. The team was tasked with creating pouches for the Fondacio International Congress in the Philippines in 2018.
2019: activity is becoming structured
Having discovered the products at the Congress, Yvonne Altorfer, a member of the Fondacio Board, fell in love with the project and decided to help it get structured. “Following a workshop on sewing, during a training cycle for Fondacio’s young leaders in Asia, I decided to help them in the long term,” she explains. “We created a prototype of a summer dress. I committed to buying 50 and reselling them if they arrived in Europe in the right sizes in spring 2019.”
The bet was met, giving rise to an international collaboration. Yvonne and Julia became co-founders of this initiative. A small team left for Myanmar in May 2019 to continue structuring production and finances, as well as helping to create new products. “During this trip, we also established initial sales partnerships in a very prominent store in Yangon.” Other distribution points were found. With one objective: to develop sales mainly in Myanmar. Some sales were also made in Europe.
2020: coping with the pandemic…
“It was starting to get clearer when Covid arrived… It was a total standstill. No more tourists, no more local customers.” We had to bounce back. Youn Sone initially developed a mask business in partnership with Trendethics, an association that helps women in Southeast Asia to sustain their weaving activity. Calls for donations were launched.
Youn Sone's production has also diversified with the creation of cushions and tea towels. "I continued to sell wherever I could: home sales in Europe, at Fondacio events and at a local market in the South of France."
… 2021: then the coup d’état
In 2021, the junta coup followed Covid. “Now, once they have their education, young people only dream of one thing: emigrating.” Despite this difficult context, Youn Sone continues to grow. “Today, sales are picking up a little because a few tourists and especially expatriates are starting to return to Myanmar. The teams on site have also done a great job of networking and following up with customers.” Local sales account for around 20% of the overall budget. The remaining 80% comes from sales in Europe.
“Youn Sone is growing, it’s becoming more technical,” adds Yvonne Altorfer. “We have to talk to factories or fabric manufacturers to get the thread that meets European standards. For example, we have an order for 200 cushions for a hotel, which requires more standardized production and professional anti-stain treatment. So we have to develop new skills.” Another challenge is to work on the traceability of products, made with artisanal fabrics made by hand in remote villages.
Today, Youn Sone has between three and five employees from Fondacio, the company's partner, and five to six families who live off regular sewing or weaving orders. That is between ten and twenty families who benefit from this project, directly and indirectly. Youn Sone, still structurally linked to Fondacio in Myanmar, is continuing its growth today. The activity is becoming more professional and diversified. Products are made for the European market and others specifically for the local market. Distribution and sales are enjoying increasing success.
End of 2022: a boutique in Paris
With five other brands from the Mekong Connection collective, created by Trendethics, Youn Sone rented a boutique in the 17th arrondissement of Paris for six weeks, from mid-November to the end of 2022. A real gamble to invest more than €2,000 in renting a sales location… which paid off! “The experience was conclusive,” emphasizes Yvonne Altorfer. “Youn Sone achieved the second highest turnover in the boutique. This means that our products appeal to multiple customers. We were also able, through this means, to raise awareness of the situation of women in Southeast Asia and in Myanmar in particular.”
This success has brought Youn Sone even closer to Trendethics. "We have known them since the beginning," explains the co-founder. "They have the same vision as us, except that they started with weaving." "They" are Marie Van Haecke and Lucie Tailhades, the project leaders at Trendethics. "We complement each other. Younsone specializes in sewing, while Trendethics is more into weaving. By combining our know-how, strengths and skills, we can have better products and reach a wider market in France, and even in Europe."
2023 : Opportunity for Women
Yvonne Altorfer has partnered with Trendethics to create Opportunity for Women in early 2023. The goal: to distribute the products under a single brand. Opportunity for Women will have an associative structure to develop other projects in Southeast Asia and more broadly: "We want to be able to launch, mentor and support women." A website is currently being created. "We have also applied to have a pop-up store in the heart of Paris, near the Hôtel de Ville."
To date, Opportunity for Women has six fully committed women, most of whom are volunteers: Marie Van Haecke, Lucie Tailhades, Julia Naw, Yvonne Altorfer, Cécile Villegas and Julia Aldeguer. "We dream of a better world that values each person's know-how, natural resources and fights against inequalities. We are convinced that local communities in Southeast Asia, and women in particular, can be actors in sustainable initiatives that create value for the rest of the world. Through their culture, their way of life and their proximity to nature, these minorities can thus provide a response to socio-environmental issues. We want to enable and promote an economic model for an ecological and united transition through sustainable and human activities."
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