When a story turns into a lifelong mission...
It all started with a tragedy of one Europe‘s largest textile companies that left a whole region in shock
In order to tell the story of PUPPA, we have to take a look at the region we are based in. PUPPA is based in Murska Sobota, Slovenia, which was also home to “Mura”, one of Europe’s largest textile companies. Mura produced clothing for brands such as Hugo Boss or Yves Saint Lauren and employed 7000 people in an area with 60.000 people during the 1990s. When Mura went bankrupt in 2009, the unemployment rate increased by 54% in one year and left the whole region in shock.
A lot of design and textile know-how was about to be lost for good
Almost every family in the region had a member that had been employed in Mura and was affected by the sudden shut down. But it was not only that: in the European fashion industry, Mura was known for high quality and skilled seamstresses. All of this was suddenly at danger to be lost for good. Protests by former employees and the population of the whole region remained unaddressed.
The need for change and open minds turned into a unique business idea with social impact
With reaching Slovenia‘s highest unemployment rate, there was an urgent need for action. A program for Mura employees was established temporarily that looked after 3000 people affected. One person responsible for the program was Tomaz Siftar, later founder of PUPPA Designs (picture right). It was him together with a group of designers that came up with an idea that tackled all their challenges: to create a new innovative fashion brand that employs former Mura employees but also acts socially responsible by putting a zero waste production into place.
Since 2015 PUPPA successfully shows that responsible fashion and premium designs go hand in hand
Finally, in 2015 PUPPA Design was born. Since then our team is designing and producing unique patchwork clothing for women. PUPPA has been guest on catwalks, fashion fairs and already found friends and fans across Europe. Every single piece made by PUPPA is exclusively produced in Slovenia by using un-used materials and producing zero waste – and proofs that unique designs and social responsibility can “catwalk” hand in hand.
We are only at the beginning of writing the story of PUPPA – join us in creating it together
It’s PUPPA’s mission to offer a solution to the many frightening and urgent challenges the global fashion industry is currently facing. But we are also proud to transform long-lasting knowledge and experience into a new innovative fashion brand that has already delighted so many. Yet, we are only at the beginning of our story and we are looking forward to you joining us on this journey. Because only together, we can really make a change.