Fundação Ajuda em Ação and designer Roselyn Silva launch a charity collection in collaboration with Alstom Foundation

The Alstom Foundation, together with Alstom in Portugal and the Portuguese NGO Ajuda em Ação is developing the "Women in Action" project in the municipality of Loures, near Lisbon, Portugal. This initiative promotes self-employment activities for women facing the risk of social exclusion, by establishing a sewing training school and providing entrepreneurship and business training.

For its implementation, Alstom Foundation provides logistical assistance and finances the training staff, materials, sewing machines and other complementary activities, such as mentoring, events or visits to other projects and companies. As part of these activities, the 20 women participating in the project have worked hand to hand with Portuguese designer Roselyn Silva to create the patchwork fabrics used in the new Roselyn Silva´s collection, which has just presented in Lisbon.

The new collection includes five pieces developed in collaboration with the Ajuda em Ação Foundation, and the participants of its sewing and entrepreneurship programme financed by the Alstom Foundation.

The pieces in this solidarity capsule collection are therefore characterised by the patchwork details - a technique that consists of joining different patches together, composing various mixtures of colours, shapes and designs -. The new clothes did not lack the sustainable aspect either: all the pieces of fabric used for the patchwork came from previous collections, thus promoting the circular economy, something very important for the designer's work and in line with Alstom’s mission.

Learn more about the project here