Oscars glory for Hong Kong handmade children’s brand Pepper & Mint
The brand’s baby shoes and blankets are handcrafted by artisans in Indonesia and featured in this year’s Academy Awards swag bags
“It was exciting to have been involved in the energy and fun surrounding the Oscars,” says company founder Conny Wong.
It should come as no surprise that the brand, which was a finalist at last year’s Hong Kong Smart Design Awards, was included in the goody bag. The Oscars is a popular platform to speak about social responsibility – just listen to the rousing speech by this year’s best actor winner, Joaquin Phoenix ( Joker ; 2019). And social responsibility is heavily woven into Pepper & Mint’s story, with its shoes and blankets handcrafted by stay-at-home mums and dads in Indonesia.
“We have partnered with a manufacturer in Indonesia who recruits artisans across the country,” says Wong, a mother of two. “When you buy our handmade goods, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your purchase impacts the livelihood of these artisans and their families. Our handcrafters are trained for their jobs, paid fair living wages and treated with respect,” she says.
The products, which have also featured in British Vogue, are made in small batches to minimise waste.
“As for the fabric cut-offs, we give them a second life by passing them to another store where they turn them into baby bibs, creating another source of income for our artisans as well as keeping the material out of landfills,” Wong says.
In keeping with the brand’s ethos of giving back, part of the proceeds from sales goes to Volunteer for the Visayans, a Philippines-based children’s charitythat is close to Wong’s heart. In 2015, she took time out from her corporate job in global mobility to volunteer at an orphanage supported by the charity in Tacloban, in the central Philippines, which was recovering from 2013’s Typhoon Yolanda.
For further details, visit pepperandmintboutique.com.
