It began in 2009 with a ball of wool and a crocheting needle in a Roma community in North West Romania where the Hungarian plain meets the Zarand mountains. As we worked alongside the poor, listening to the stories of their lives, we were provoked by one question: How can we help to restore hope and empower people living in poor communities? DECE (which means “WHY?” in Romanian) became our bridge to helping people escape from cycles of generational poverty, developing skills and potential in individuals, restoring dignity and empowering people to provide for their families. DECE is part of a holistic community development program developed over many years of working alongside families living in very difficult circumstances. Many families live in small mud-brick houses with earth floors and no running water or drainage and struggle through winters where the temperature can go down to -25 Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit). Medication is often too expensive to afford and many families struggle to provide simple necessities like shoes, basic clothing and food. The first DECE product was a simple crochet hat. Crocheting needs little equipment and enabled our employees to work from home which meant that they could build their work schedule around caring for their family. In 2013 DECE began to produce simple leather products that created work opportunities for men in the community and has become a significant part of the DECE story. Our mission is to produce the highest quality handmade products using the best possible materials. We try to use environmentally friendly materials because we believe in sustainability from start to finish.

EDUCATION: Education is one of the fundamental keys to breaking the cycles that trap entire families in extreme poverty for generations.

EMPOWERMENT: Our aim is to help and empower people to provide for themselves and their families.

EMPLOYMENT: A job is more than just work. People have the freedom to become who they want to be.

QUALITY: We believe the quality of our products speaks to the value of our team. We believe in our products and will stand by them.

DESIGN: We take pride in the timelessness of our designs, we let the creativity of the individuals on our team inform the classic design offerings.

UTILITY: A product is only as good as its usefulness our products are built to be both beautiful and functional, helping you live a better and more impactful life.

CONSCIOUS: We have a responsibility to look after our planet. As such, we aim to use materials and processes in-line with the values of the World Fair Trade Organization. We care about our employees and do as little harm as possible to the environment.

STANDARDS & CERTIFICATIONS

We are proud to be one of only two World Fair Trade Organisation approved producers in Europe. This certification means that we have proven to comply with all ten of the WFTO trade standards:

 

A textile article or accessory that carries any of the OEKO-TEX certifications has been thoroughly tested for harmful substances, every thread and component is classified as ‘harmless in human ecological terms. The test is conducted by independent partner institutes on the basis of their extensive criteria – taking into account numerous regulated and non-regulated substances.

 

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. The aim of the standard is to define world-wide recognized requirements that ensure organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labeling in order to provide a credible assurance to the end consumer.