Makers Unite: creative agency with a big social mission

Hidden behind Denim City you’ll find Makers Unite – a wonderful social enterprise – that supports creative newcomers to start their new lives here in the Netherlands, through sustainable clothing production.

Where Makers Unite started in 2016 with a Re-Vest Life Ribbon campaign in which thousands of abandoned life-vests were upcycled into ribbons, the initiative has since grown into a worldwide creative network that offers migrants a platform.

Makers Unite still uses the life-vests as the basis of their own product line. For example, you will find laptop sleeves and tote bags made from life-vests in their webshop. The ‘Creative Lab’ is financed with part of the income from their production. This social program has been specially created to integrate newcomers into the Dutch Creative Industry.

Re-Vest Life Ribbon

Let’s get creative
During Creative Lab, newcomers with a creative background follow various workshops based on the ‘Human-Centered Design’ principle for 6 weeks. Hereby the individual needs of the participants on both a professional and personal level will be taken into account. The workshops deal with 4 pillars: get to know each other, professional development, personal development and creative thinking. Creativity is paramount at Makers Unite.

At the end of the program, participants receive a certificate and become part of the Makers Unite community. There are now about 250 community members with whom the Maker Unite team remains in contact, in order to be able to link them, as much as possible, to opportunities in the professional field.

For example, a former participant of Creative Lab now works as a volunteer at Makers Unite. She helps with the dismantling of the life vests, so that they can be used for the production of, among other things, the Live Ribbons. In addition, Makers Unite has also been able to link a number of community members to a project of the Amsterdam fashion brand Filling Pieces.

Filling Pieces is not the only local brand that Makers Unite collaborates with. A lot of beautiful clothing has already been produced in the studio for various brands. For example, the creative agency worked with Charlie & Mary – this clothing brand was also based in De Hallen for a while – on a clothing collection. The products and campaigns resulting from the collaborations are all unique, due to the different backgrounds and experiences of the local makers and newcomers.

Community and products

Over the globe
In addition to the production and social program, Makers Unite also offers workshops for the business sector.

The workshop – facilitated by a newcomer from the community – starts a conversation about inclusivity and the positive aspect of cultural differences. With this, Makers Unite hopes to show the participants what it’s like for immigrants to have to build a new life in the Netherlands. Of course, during the workshop people also get to work creatively, with a sustainable assignment. The workshop therefore brings together the cultural-social aspect, as well as creativity and the sustainable production concept.

Remote Makers creates new (international) opportunities for Makers Unite, enabling them to create even more impact in the field of inclusivity, diversity and sustainability. We therefore know for sure that Makers Unite will inspire many people from all over the world with its wonderful social mission.