Entrepreneur, feminist and designer, Karina Gallon, 32 years old, resident of Curitiba (PR), created Peita, a manifesto-shirt brand, three years ago.
The pieces are printed without an image and only with short and objective words, in the same way that they encourage women to fight for their rights.
“Fight like a woman”
Unexpectedly, the phrases were inspired at first by posters Karina paid attention to during street demonstrations, at the same time she was unemployed.
Therefore, she realized that she could turn these pieces into a business and, at the same time, a political tool that could be present in any space.
“I realized that, if I put together what I know about design, feminism and activism, I could, in a simple and popular way, open a way to undertake” she concluded.
With the help of two friends, designer Cris Pagnoncelli and typographer Eduilson Cohan, she produced about 20 T-shirts, which she posted on Instagram.
Since everything was produced in an improvised way, because Karina did not have her own space, supplier, website, nor did she understand clothing or how an entrepreneur worked.
“The shirts I produced by hand, one by one. Then they were stacked on a chair, table, clothesline, it was all very homemade”, he recalls. As a result, it didn't take long.
The company
With the company formed, Karina structured and inaugurated an e-commerce and had to learn to deal with the operational side of manufacturing various parts south.
“In the beginning I started partnerships with brands, NGOs and social institutions committed and involved with feminism and women's rights, and that's how other ideas came about”, she explained.
As Peita has positioned itself as a protest brand, being heavily influenced by the socio-political context, many were unable to wear t-shirts where they wanted to.
Thus, to get around the situation, Karina launched other items, discreet, but with the same potential to empower and raise awareness, such as mugs, scarves, stickers and bottons.
With this purpose, the profit from the items in Guarani goes to the Jera Rete movement, which provides information on health, women's rights and land demarcation.
