Urban Austral
Empowered women
Urban Austral was born in March 2016, in the city of Coyhaique-Chile, as a project that seeks to generate functional products that take full advantage of the qualities of lamb leather and at the same time made every product by hand in the Aysén Region.
They want to use the waste from the food industry and create a conscious product and at the same time rescue local crafts and be able to take a piece of Patagonia to the rest of Chile and the world.
That is how Urban Austral generate a great environmental and social impact.
100% artisan and local production.
All the products are handmade in Chile. They believe that when things are made by hand one by one, have a special value and care, making each product unique.
The women seek to demonstrate that they do not need great technologies to generate quality products, but rather that the wealth is in manual work.
There are no factories, only women working in their homes and at their workshop in Coyhaique, where they make their products with great love and dedication.
The Patagonian insoles, that you can find at PanalStore, are handcrafted by a community of women who live in the southernmost tip of Chile.
These women come from a place that usually has movement and economic activity only in the summer months. To continue the activity in winter, they devised this new source of income with which these five women make wool accessories from their sheep.
They make from blankets to these insoles for footwear, which being 100% wool are thermoregulatory, are very warm in winter and cool in summer, antibacterial, naturally insulating moisture and anti-perspirant, they can also be washed in the washing machine. The base is made with leather from waste from the food industry.
And as a clarification: they fit well in the usual foot size.
Patagonia insoles are made to last.
They are a 100% female company.
They choose to work with the local population because they believe that each product should be made with love and care and the people who make them should have good wages and good working conditions. According to the Fair Wage Guide, their artisans are paid 78% above the fair minimum wage.
In November 2017, they choose to go a little further and donate some of their income. As they believe: “ we live in the most beautiful place in the world, they decided to donate to REFORESTEMOS PATAGONIA, in this way we contribute to taking care of our own region and we give the world one tree at a time”.
Their goal is to create a company that is good for people and the environment.
And also that everyone has their warm feet!