Ex‑rebel launches Ixora fashion brand to empower women
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- Katerine Avella created the fashion brand Ixora after the Colombian civil war, leveraging her status as a former combatant and peace signatory.
- The Catatumbo workshop was set up under the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian Government and FARC rebels to help reintegrate former combatants.
- The workshop offers training, care, and empowerment for women, aiming to prevent gender‑based violence and rebuild confidence.
- Stitches for Peace was founded by Avella and other women, initially producing sweatshirts, T‑shirts, and uniforms.
- Stitches for Peace pivoted in 2021 toward high fashion, evolving into the Ixora brand.
- Renewed violence in the region has created new challenges, prompting Avella to focus on keeping the Ixora project afloat.
Why it matters: Women in Catatumbo gain jobs and confidence that help curb gender‑based violence, while the community benefits from a peace‑building enterprise; renewed fighting endangers the Ixora brand, risking the loss of those empowerment gains and a setback to post‑war reconciliation and undermining the broader peace process.
