In much of the apparel industry, workers are expected to arrive already trained. At MarketPlace, we take a different approach. Our mission is centered on creating access to dignified, skilled employment for women who have been historically excluded from these opportunities. Training is therefore essential—it’s how talent, confidence, and craftsmanship take shape.
Most women who join the cooperatives we work with have never worked in garment production before. They bring life skills born of necessity: hand sewing to mend or shorten clothes for family members, or basic experience on a home sewing machine making simple tops or dresses for kids. What they don’t arrive with is formal training in garment construction or the specialized hand embroidery found on our garments. That learning happens here, through hands-on work and continuous training as styles, fabrics, and techniques evolve.
From day one, learning is built into the work. Training begins with the basics—literally sewing a straight line. Because women need to earn right away, training cannot be for a long period and production happens side by side. Early on, artisans stitch together chindis (fabric remnants) into patchwork, practicing precision while producing something useful.
And the learning never stops. As styles evolve, so do skills: new collars, pintucks, elastic insertions, shaped necklines, and armholes all require careful instruction and practice. Fabrics bring their own challenges—double gauze that can stretch if mishandled, knits that behave entirely differently from wovens. Even experienced tailors need focused training when moving from woven fabrics to knits, which require different machines and techniques.
Before each season begins, training deepens. Embroidery artisans create samplers of every stitch used in the collection. Some stitches are familiar, others new, and one quarter of each sampler is reserved for experimentation. This is often the fun part—women combining stitches, testing ideas, and discovering unexpected beauty. Those experiments sometimes become the inspiration for embroidery in a future season.
Before production officially starts, both tailors and embroidery artisans go through detailed style trainings. Each garment is fully documented—measurements for every size, fabric placement, construction notes, button counts and spacing. Kala, who leads Production Development, walks through every detail: what’s unusual about the style, where things can go wrong, how embroidery needs to shift with size, and where extra care is needed to reduce bulk or improve fit.
Once production fabric arrives, each cooperative makes a sample in every size. Only after those production samples are reviewed and approved does full production begin.
This kind of training takes time, patience, and deep collaboration. But it’s what allows women to build lasting skills—and what allows us to create garments that carry intention, confidence, and craft in every stitch.
