Entrepreneur, feminist and designer, Karina Gallon, 32 years old, resident of Curitiba (PR), created Peita, a brand of manifesto t-shirts, three years ago.
The pieces are printed without images and only with short and objective sayings in the same way that they encourage women to fight for their rights.
“Fight like a woman”
Unexpectedly, the phrases were initially inspired by posters that 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 combined what I know about design, feminism and activism, I could open a path to entrepreneurship in a simple and popular way,” she concluded.
She had the help of two friends, designer Cris Pagnoncelli and typographer Eduilson Cohan, and produced around 20 t-shirts, which she posted on Instagram.
Since everything was produced in an improvised way, because Karina didn't have her own space, supplier, website, and she didn't understand manufacturing or how an entrepreneur worked.
“I made the t-shirts by hand, one by one. Then they were stacked on chairs, tables, clotheslines, it was all very homemade”, he recalls. The results didn’t take long.
The company
With the company formed, Karina structured and opened an e-commerce and needed to learn how to deal with the operational side of manufacturing the various parts. south.
“Initially, I started partnerships with brands, NGOs and social institutions committed to and involved with feminism and women’s rights, and then other ideas came along,” she explained.
As Peita positioned itself as a protest brand, being heavily influenced by the sociopolitical context, many were unable to wear t-shirts wherever they wanted.
Therefore, 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 buttons.
The profits from the Guarani pieces go to the Jera Rete movement, which provides information on health, women's rights and land demarcation.