After worries over and even , here is some positive news for Syrian refugees: Denim
City, an Amsterdam non-profit organisation dedicated to craftsmanship,
innovation and sustainability in the denim industry, has started a project
that will employ Syrian refugees who are skilled tailors, washers or other
industry professionals to work at their Denim City Workshop. FashionUnited
spoke with newly appointed general manager of Denim City, Harm Magis, about
the project and its progress.
Syria, once known for its exports of raw cotton and garments, with cotton
being the largest single export before the development of the oil sector,
still has a young, skilled labour force. “Traditionally, Syria used to be
big in washing and used to contract work to Turkey. So there are many
skilled people among the refugees who are right here in Amsterdam and
around, so we thought ‘why not give them a chance?’,” said Magis.
The Workshop is a production facility of Denim City where students of
the Jean School – the first denim school in the world – gain practical
training and work on their assignments. It is also used as a training
facility for retail and professional courses. It is planned that the
Workshop will host a pool of trainee craftspeople, which is where the
Syrian refugees come in, many of whom are “really good tailors” as Mariette
Hoitink explained, co-founder of House of Denim and Denim City.
“The project with the Syrian refugees is still in its early phase;
first, we have to get the Workshop started,” explained Magis. “The idea is
to combine education and production under one roof and to have experienced
people work together with the students.”
In a first meeting with 10 to 12 Syrian refugees in the middle of March,
Denim City was able to gauge that some of them bring exactly this kind of
experience: “There is a pool of skilled refugees, young people with denim
experience,” confirmed Magis. The first selection of refugees was
facilitated by Refugee Company, an Amsterdam-based non-profit that connects
refugees in the Netherlands to Dutch companies that need their skills and
expertise.
“There are basically four phases for the Workshop: making small and
simple products first (like tote bags, aprons, keychains and the like) for
Denim City as well as other companies. In the next phase, we are aiming for
more assignments from companies, which will be expanded to making garments
in the third phase. Lastly, we want to make garments for our own label”,
said Magis.
In terms of a time frame, Denim City is “in no hurry. We are in it for
the long term. The creation of a production facility in Amsterdam is key
and with it comes the creation of jobs”, said Magis. “I rather create one
job for the next ten years than ten jobs for a few months”, he emphasised.
And of course there are challenges: language is one of them. “While some
of the refugees we met spoke only Arabic, others were able to translate for
them.” Yet others are very keen to blend in and make the most of their new
location: “One guy wanted to learn Dutch and already spoke quite a bit”,
recounted Magis.
Another challenge is the work permit: Before refugees are allowed to
work, they need to be granted refugee status, which will permit them to
stay in the Netherlands and hence to work. Another potential hurdle is that
while waiting for their status, refugees are not allowed to relocate. That
means if Denim City finds skilled workers, they also need to make sure they
do not live too far from Amsterdam to allow for a manageable daily commute.
And in terms of volume? How many refugees would they like to hire? “We
would like to start with 10 to 15 and then expand,” said Magis.
“Ultimately, the dream is to employ 100 to 150 people who produce jeans for
our own and other brands. If we can be the driver, that would be
fantastic.” We couldn’t agree more.
Photos: Harm Magis / Simone Preuss; refugees at Denim City / Refugee
Company