Women's prison workshops across Italy are joining up under a new
commercial fashion brand they hope will help encourage more
detainees to learn the trade and give them hope for a future on the
outside.
The Sigillo (Seal) brand unveiled by the justice ministry this year
will be available in the shops within months -- a unique experiment
that has given new energy to places like a handbag workshop at
Rebibbia prison in Rome.
"When I get out I want to have a more normal, a calmer life. With
this job I'm sure everything will be okay with me. I've learnt a
lot here," said Kalu Uwaezuoke Chinedum Ike, a Nigerian facing drug
trafficking charges.
The 40-year-old works three afternoons a week in a room with sewing
machines, cutting tables and bars on the windows.
Rows of blue-doored cells can be seen from the workshop in what is
Italy's biggest women's prison with more than 700 detainees.
After more than three years inside as she awaits the conclusion of
her trial, Kalu has acquired a knack for stitching and beading.
"I've always been a person who likes dressing well, even when I
didn't have enough to eat," she said, adding: "I have a real
passion for it!"
Prisons in Italy are notoriously overcrowded, and funding has been
repeatedly cut in recent years, making for what Justice Minister
Annamaria Cancellieri recently called a penal system "that is not
worthy of a civilised country".
There are a few exceptions -- innovative projects like a theatre
workshop, also at Rebibbia, whose performance of Shakespeare's
"Julius Caesar" became the award-winning film "Caesar Must Die"
released two years ago.
After three years of bureaucratic hurdles, promoters of Sigillo
hope the project -- which has 400,000 euros ($520,000) in funding
from the justice ministry and 400,000 euros from charities -- will
be a similar success.
"The aim of the project is to give female detainees the tools to be
in the marketplace once they are released," said Nanda Roscioli, a
former justice ministry employee and consultant who has been
involved from the start.
Roscioli said it is also a way of countering a prison system
oriented towards male detainees in which women are a "subordinate"
minority.
"This makes conditions for female detainees harsher, more
barbaric," Roscioli said.
"As far as I know this programme is unique," she said.
Daniela Arronenzi, head of the Rebibbia workshop charity, said she
signed up to the non-profit project because it would give
prison-made garments access to a wider retail network and something
resembling an actual fashion business.
"Of course, prison is a place of problems. There is overcrowding,
there are budget cuts, but then there is also this," she said.
The initial plan is to hire 10 female detainees from workshops
across the country and train 40 more who will produce under the
Sigillo brand for big fashion names, as well as filling special
orders for corporate marketing products.
The handbags made in Rebibbia sell for up to 40 euros each.
Supporters say the project is not exploitative because detainees
will receive a regular part-time salary of 600 euros a month --
comparable to their counterparts on the outside -- and
participation is voluntary.
Chinedum Ike and another member of the Rebibbia cooperative,
Ukrainian detainee Natalya, currently receive around 150 euros,
which they can send to family or spend on food and hygiene products
in the prison.
The initiative is supported by Silvia Venturini Fendi, heiress of
the Fendi fashion business, which is owned by French luxury giant
LVMH.
For 33-year-old Natalya, who has been inside for three years,
making handbags has little to do with glitzy catwalks or commercial
success.
"For a time, we feel psychologically that we are not inside these
walls. That's the reason for programmes like this. To switch off,"
said Natalya, who is also a proficient guitarist and pianist who
plays at Sunday mass in the chapel.
"Sigillo is also about personal satisfaction. When we create things
and they are sold, are appreciated, then we enjoy our work,"
Natalya said.
She added: "When I get out of here, I would like to open a
shop."
Nigerian
detainee Kalu Uwaezuoke Chinedum Ike makes handbags at a workshop
in Rome's Rebibbia prison on May 22, 2013. Women's prison workshops
in Italy are joining up under a new commercial fashion brand they
hope will give detainees hope for a future.
