Meet YAYI: The Designer Working to Revive Puerto-Rico's Sustainable Fashion Manufacturing Industry
learn more about their ethical material sourcing and brand ethos!
YAYI has been a staple of the Santos guest designer roster for over a year now and we can confidently say the love the brand receives is entirely a result of the love it is founded on. Founded by Puerto-Rican designer Yazmín Perez, a graduate of Polimoda Firenze, Politecnico di Milano in Italy and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, she believes “fashion manufacturing can be possible again in Puerto Rico by reinforcing the tradition of tailoring and passing it on to a younger generation of crafters focused on sustainability…”
YAYI is locally designed and manufactured on the island of Puerto Rico with imported natural fiber fabrics from the USA and Europe. These garments have a timeless and earthly appeal to them, which is why we were drawn to YAYI as a beloved member of our designer network. Sustainable fashion, while it imperatively concerns ethically materials and production, is also about the wearability of a piece, which ultimately increases its lifetime in our wardrobes. Made with longevity in mind, their pieces are sewn with tailoring techniques that prioritize quality construction by a cottage industry seamstress in San Juan and Yayi herself.
We’re so grateful that our journey as a Puerto-Rican, woman-owned brand in New York City has led us to cross paths with designers like Yayi. We spoke with her to learn a bit more about her brand, design ethos, and what’s next for YAYI! Keep reading to learn more:
When did you start your brand, and what is the inspiration behind it?
I started the brand officially in 2018 upon returning to Puerto Rico from NYC post hurricane Maria with the goal of creating a job for myself and eventually providing jobs for other fashion professionals and recent fashion grads from the island. Unconsciously I was part of a wave of creatives coming back to Puerto Rico in hopes of rebuilding the creative economy post hurricane Maria.
Where are your products made? Who makes them?
Our garments are made locally in Puerto Rico via cottage industry seamstresses and in our studio by 2 design assistants and myself. We cut all the garments in our studio and then a few independent seamstresses come by the studio to pick up the fabric cuts and materials they need to sew the pieces at their home studios. About a week later, they come by the studio to drop off the finished garments and pick up more cuts.
What is your creative process like?
My creative process starts with researching about a topic I’m obsessed about at the moment. I concentrate my research on garment construction because pattern making is my favorite part of the process. References can come from old films, family photo albums, uniforms stored in a closet at my parents house where I grew up, home sewing and pattern drafting books, etc. Next, I draft all the patterns and then I fly to NYC to source my fabrics since the suppliers I discovered while working in NY are all there. And finally I cut and sew the sample garments with the new fabrics back at the studio in Puerto Rico.
What challenges have you faced as a small, Latine-owned brand?
Our challenges mostly revolve around manufacturing in Puerto Rico. Our values and mission are heavily based on made locally for which we struggle to find fully trained seamstresses in PR capable of delivering the level of quality I look for in a well made garment. So far we have accomplished it by training fashion design students who we then employ. Sadly the fashion manufacturing industry in Puerto Rico has almost disappeared and the factories still standing are reserved for military and school uniform making so factory manufacturing is not an option for designers in the island. Another challenge is we don't have textile mills on the island so all our fabrics are imported. The price we pay for materials is very high since it has traveled from Europe where it has been weaved to the supplier in mainland USA and then again to us in PR.
How do you incorporate sustainability into your business practices?
All of our garments are made in linen or cotton. Since we pay a lot for fabric, we try to use it as wisely as possible. We keep all fabric cut offs in scrap bins while we cut all the garments we make. We use those remnants to make patchwork fabrics which we then cut into other garments. So far we have developed 4 styles in this patchwork “swatch” fabric. These patchwork pieces take a whole day to make from gathering the scraps into color groups and preparing the fabric to sewing the pieces together to make the fabric and then sewing the actual garment, but they make fun pieces, a great conversation starter, and they reduce our material waste by a lot.
What's up next for you?
Our next adventure is the quest for a commercial space. We are currently working out of my home studio which is very comfortable and has great lighting but I understand a retail space will help the brand grow to the next level.
Check out YAYI on Instagram: @yayibyyayiperez