PROJECT

SALA SUSU

Creative direction for SALA SUSU, Cambodian women's empowerment brand. Security-focused, functional products generated 5x profits.

WHY

For the women of Cambodia to live independently.

Women living in rural villages in Cambodia have limited access to resources and education, which results in many hindered cases of social advancement. Moreover, due to poverty, there is still a harsh reality for women as they continue to face human trafficking. Since 2002, the NPO corporation / Kamonohashi project has been hiring women in these rural areas supporting them to live independently through the process of making through a “Community Factory.” However, the profit of the products did not reach the target, resulting in an unsustainable result.

HOW

We designed a relationship between the maker and buyer.

“SALA SUSU” launched with the Kamonohashi Project, is a handmade fashion brand with the concept of improving the life skills of Cambodian women and bringing Fulfillment in their life through manufacturing. Involved in directing, We created a contact point to foster a relationship between makers and buyers. We helped the makers manufacture products convenient for women to take to on trips and designed directly-managed stores in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

In Cambodia, when one takes a leap of faith, one would call out “Su Su!” (“You can do it!”). Within the word, we superimposed the figure of a strong Cambodian woman living confidently every day. Therefore, we invented the brand name “SALA SUSU” by combining “SALA” meaning “school” with the word “SUSU.” As the same suggests, SALASUSU’s Community Factory functions almost like a school system, where they learn all sorts of life skills such as techniques like cutting and sewing, linguistics, and business manners. Once they graduated, these skillsets become crucial to living an independent life.

All staff members who work at the workshop located near Siem Reap in Cambodia, have a personalized stamp respectively. Leaving their name mark on all product tags of SALA SUSU, this system allows buyers to know who made the product at a glance, as well as aiming for the makers to gain a sense of responsibility.

You can find a free pass imitating an airline ticket in each pocket of the product. In presenting this, a tuk-tuk will pick you up from Siem Reap, famous for its World Heritage site “Angkor Wat,” to a village 35km away from the studio. As the buyer has the opportunity to thank the maker in person, which leads to building pride, motivation, and hospitality in each maker.

The “3-Day Trip Tote” is designed to prevent unwanted situations such as theft. There is a whistle on the handle of the zipper to use in case of any danger. The “Travel Sacoche” sold separately can be used either as a pocket inside the tote bags (3-Day Trip Tote or 1-Day tripe Tote) or as a small bag on its own. It is also waterproof with a water bottle holder, supporting smarter travel for women.

WILL

A case model promoting social advancement for Cambodian women.

We gained five times the profit compared to the products the Kamonohashi project produced in the previous in the “Community Factory,” with SALASUSU. As a result, Kenta Aoki, co-representative of the Kamonohashi project, launched a new corporation “SUSU” in April 2018. The Cambodian government has highly appraised SALASUSU, where SUSU is currently expanding its activities cooperating in the development of programs for the social advancement of women in the country.

We are currently looking into social design investments within several projects, starting with SALA SUSU. These kinds of projects involve signing a royalty contract with customers, for the design fee to be contingent upon success. As social entrepreneurs with a strong vision for society, this kind of agreement reflects and connects strongly with our philosophy by investing first from the design.