Brand To Believe In: 1001 Stories

Fashion : Meet

05 November 2019

Shifting to more ethical and intelligent ways of working is the zeitgeist of fashion in 2019. Slowly but surely, more brands are placing an emphasis on environmental consciousness and, as ardent supporters of sustainable efforts, we’re celebrating the brands doing just that. Each week, we’ll be meeting the brands fashioning beautiful goods with the greater good in mind.

With a strong and clear mission “to create beautiful statement shoes whilst lifting skilled marginalised communities out of poverty and into business”, and a want “to make a difference and create a brand that would inspire others to help the vulnerable ones who don’t have the same opportunities as us,” 1001 Stories is a footwear brand with a social purpose.

Both founders, Tereza Pigova and Shahrzad Moaven, boast backgrounds in business and design. With such training, working together strategically and creatively to build a sustainable and confident business resulted in the creation of beautiful “handmade shoes using high quality and premium leathers”.

An important element, and the main reason for running the brand is for the protection and enrichment of our communities. “Improving lives as well as creating positive and lasting change for those who are often excluded from the global economy is our motivation,” Shahrzad tells us. Meanwhile, synchronicity with partners that share the same values of providing fair wages and creating safe working environments is just as essential. “It was important to work with a credible partner and working with a company that has the support of the UN was a natural fit,” Shahrzad explains.

And so, impressed with the work they do and the talent of the SEP artisans, the first hero collaboration with MADE51 was born with an ambition to help those affected by war. Distinctive personality, emotion and style are the elements that go into each of the brands’ signature bows. With each one “inspired by Middle Eastern architecture as well as Palestinian and Syrian heritage, which has been passed on from one generation to another”, they are delicately hand-embroidered by a female artist living and working in refugee camps in Jordan.

For 1001 Stories, “the goal of [their] core collection is to create a reputation as a unique and stylish brand that is created by women for women”. The brand’s commitment, drive and passion to always put customers first, develop more exciting and bold collections and never forget about how products make consumers feel both from the inside and outside, is what makes them a Brand that we Believe In.