Carcel is a Danish company and one of the frontrunners in global ethical prison production in the fashion business. Carcel aims to provide training and employment opportunities to incarcerated women so that they will have a chance to lead a positive, self-supporting life and be able to break the spiral of poverty and crime.
The IVL Foundation sponsored the Carcel Garment Project at Chiang Mai Women’s Correctional Institution. This aim was to provide vocational skills to marginalized women that will allow them to support themselves and their families financially and to gain skills to enter the job market once they are released.
For the Carcel Garment Project in Chiang Mai in 2018, 21 female inmates were selected to receive training by Carcel on sewing techniques, patternmaking and embroidery. By the end of training, 10 seamstresses were hired for trial production. All women who participated in this training program received a certificate for their achievement. All clothing was made from 100% silk and labeled with the names of the women who made them. They received a fair wage, which was benchmarked against the International Labor Organization (ILO) guidelines.
