On August 2022, International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Sheep Inc. x Yawanawá sustainable fashion collection was launched. This distinctive limited-edition collection from a collaboration between the Yawanawá Indigenous community of the Land of Rio Gregório in the Acre State of Northern Brazil, and Sheep Inc. – the first carbon negative clothing brand looking to “create the blueprint for the garment industry to change its ways and to bring us back in touch with where our clothes come from”.

Facilitated by the UNDP Equator Initiative, this partnership aligns with UNDP’s commitment to promote initiatives from Indigenous peoples that demonstrate exceptional achievements insustainable development. The partnership is also part of the UNDP’s “Making Sustainability a Fashion Statement” campaign in 2021, to move beyond advocacy and demonstrate tangible sustainable approaches. Those approaches can also be inclusive and contribute resources to those safeguarding the richest and most biodiverse lands on Earth – Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Fashion, one of the largest manufacturing industries, contributes about 10 percent to carbon emissions. Recognizing Indigenous peoples and local communities as the most effective custodians of their lands, this collaboration emphasizes their pivotal role in the climate, biodiversity, and sustainable agenda.

The Yawanawá Sociocultural Association partnership

The partnership aims to transform obsolete business models and supply chains by emphasizing inclusion, transparency, and circularity. It highlights how mindful, modern fashion companies can reduce carbon emissions through a carbon-negative process that starts with regenerative agriculture and ends with channeling back revenues to the Indigenous peoples behind the Yawanawá Sociocultural Association (ASCY) which protects over 200,000 hectares of Amazon forest.

All the profits from the fashion collection were donated to the ASCY, which embodies a holistic understanding of the relationship between land and ecosystems.

“ASCY is an Indigenous organization representing 13 Yawanawá communities and our purpose is to protect our territory and sustainably manage our forest to develop economic sustainable projects and create income-generating opportunities that will benefit the Yawanawá. Revenues from this project are used for activities for the Yawanawá youth, to grow and empower the next generation 

This article was written and published by Anna Giulia Medri, the Programme Management and Partnerships Advisor, UNDP Equator Initiative.