The Origins of The Andean Collection: a wanderer turned entrepreneur

Written by guest contributor Katrina Pennington

My first experience of Quito was the scent of burning wood in the night air outside the airport, a smell that for me still unearths many powerful memories. I immediately felt the thrill of being in the Spanish-speaking world once again, after my rich experiences in Peru six months before. Over the next two weeks, as we rode horses through the foothills of the Andes, saw artisan markets, visited historic Quito, and met Ecuadorian families, this tropical and mountainous country won me over in an irreplaceable way.

Necklace by The Andean Collection (cascade necklace in salmon)

I first met Amanda Judge in late 2008, and was immediately fascinated and overpowered by the brilliance of her dream, to establish a “green” and ethical fashion business. Her company, which she named The Andean Collection, is an eco-fashion fair trade company that sells jewelry hand-crafted from seeds in the Ecuadorian rainforest. After a year examining the effectiveness of microfinance investment in Peru, Amanda came to understand that only with more buyers and greater access to markets could these families ever repay their modest loans. Amanda witnessed their frustration given the circumstances, but was even more impacted by the skill, dedication, and community effort with which they crafted their products. She aimed to create a business that would give these families the tools to rise from poverty in addition to using sustainable materials.

Workshop in progress, design collaboration

In January of 2009, Amanda and I traveled to Ecuador to conduct the first artisan income survey. This was my first experience of what we still believe is the essence of the company, the artisans themselves. Despite my attraction to Quito as a nature-surrounded urban area, my real passion for The Andean Collection emerged during the informal interviews we conducted. In our conversations, these dedicated wives-mothers-businesswomen candidly and trustingly revealed their fight for survival in rural Ecuador, where their businesses were terribly isolated and competed in the marketplace with hundreds of others selling same products. In the struggle to save money for their children’s educational costs and keep them well fed, both parents often went hungry.

Olga and Nancy, two of the Andean Collection's lead artisans, Otavalo region of Ecuador

Since those early months, The Andean Collection has made tremendous changes in these communities in a short amount of time. With increased orders, our original artisans have become leaders in managing their businesses and hiring other community members, thus creating a ripple of opportunity. In addition, all children of Andean Collection employees go to school with their school costs paid by The Andean Project, The Andean Collection’s parallel non-profit. The Andean Collection team in New York travels to Ecuador twice a year, reinventing and strengthening these deep friendships founded upon mutual respect and appreciation. By escaping the rushed pace of the NYC fashion arena, the group absorbs the natural beauty of Ecuador; by acknowledging the spirit and presence of our artisans, The Andean Collection celebrates their commitment and our progress as a cross-continental team. Two years later, I still believe that the jewelry designs illustrate this partnership, present in each and every piece crafted through the collaboration of these two worlds.