THE INNOVATIVE SOCIAL PROJECTS IN THE MAKERS PROGRAM REINFORCE THE PUIG BRANDS AS THEY MAKE JOINT PROGRESS TOWARDS ACCOMPLISHING THE GOALS SET OUT IN AGENDA 2030.

“The concept of women’s empowerment is already an integral part of our brand image, in terms of diversity, orientation and origins”.

 “The importance of the Makers program, does not only lie in this transfer of knowledge, but in the fact that with the support of Puig, these projects can collaborate with our brands and in this way we can all contribute towards a better society”.

Fashion and, consequently, perfumery have a great deal of potential when it comes to transmitting messages that empower women and girls. One of the movements that sowed the seeds of change was body positivity, which has its origins in the middle of the 20th century. Its goal is to challenge physical stereotypes and fight the beauty standards imposed by society. Fortunately, today there are many brands that have incorporated this movement into their advertising strategies, a circumstance that undoubtedly helps to build better societies by increasing people’s self-confidence.

We reviewed the current trends with José Manuel Albesa, President Beauty and Fashion Division. “Today, the choice of models is very inclusive, and incorporating women’s empowerment into the image of our brands is already a must, going much further in terms of diversity, orientation and origins. This is undoubtedly helping us move towards juster, more egalitarian societies.” He points out that the mission of fashion is “to always be one step ahead of the others” since it is “a huge voice for change and there is no other sector that has so much impact”. There are many examples of this trend among the Puig brands, such as Jean Paul Gaultier’s remarkable recent decision to work with transgender models.

And in fact, achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls (SDG No. 5) is one of the causes that Puig employees most highly value when they select projects for the Invisible Beauty Makers program. On account of their choice, we have been able to meet people such as Alejandra Acosta, founder of Break the Silence.

Thanks to the mentorship provided by Puig, Break the Silence has been able to broaden its field of action. Apart from fighting human trafficking, they develop programs that empower women who find themselves in situations of risk, violence and exploitation because they live in conditions of vulnerability and exclusion. In six years the project has risen awareness about violence against women among over 100,000 people. Acosta explains that this new focus has enabled the team to improve its discourse in order to reach the institutions, modify the organization’s internal structure and establish itself as an entity. The importance of the Makers program, says José Manuel Albesa, does not only lie in this transfer of knowledge, but in the fact that with the support of Puig these projects “can collaborate with our brands and in this way we can all contribute towards a better society”.

For her part, Acosta comments that although progress has clearly been made with regard to women’s participation in all spheres of society, and not only in fashion, we have to continue working to strengthen the position of the next generations. She highlights two essential lines of work to achieve SDG No. 5: more investment in quality education and greater commitment by businesses to gender equality to ensure that “more women break the glass ceiling and play an active role on management boards”. We hope that collaborations like the one in progress can help reach this goal, achieve gender equality, and inspire and empower women all over the world.