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Its
site, https://clandestina.co/, went live on Thursday with an
initial selection of T-shirts with Cuban slogans like "resistir
y vencer" (resist and conquer), no small feat in a country with
minimal internet access.
While the designs will remain Cuban, U.S.-based manufacturers
will produce the apparel and ship them to U.S. buyers,
Clandestina said. The U.S. trade embargo and supply restrictions
in Cuba make it virtually impossible to ship from there. The
Spanish citizenship of a Clandestina co-owner gave the brand the
ability to set up in the United States.
Clandestina's move highlights the ingenuity of Cuba's fledgling
private sector in overcoming obstacles on the communist-run
island and abroad.
The clothing brand is one of the success stories among the
private stores, restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts that have
emerged under President Raul Castro, who has implemented market
reforms to modernize Cuba's Soviet-style command economy.
“The Clandestina brand has always been one about succeeding
against the odds and overcoming the seemingly impossible,” said
co-founder and creative director Idania del Rio, 36.
She and her Spanish business partner Leire Fernandez, 42,
created Clandestina in 2015, opening a flagship store in Old
Havana selling clothes, bags, posters and trinkets that have
quirky Cuban designs and slogans reflecting local humor.
"Actually I'm in Havana" reads one T-shirt, while another says
"I’m a mamey (fruit), you can make a milkshake out of me".
A lack of wholesale stores and restrictions on importing for the
private sector in Cuba meant they had to get creative to acquire
textiles and keep up stock.
Friends brought batches of raw T-shirts in their suitcases from
abroad that they print their designs on, and Clandestina became
even better known for its "upcycling" of second-hand clothing to
make unique pieces.
They say they now have 27 employees and their shop attracted
more than 20,000 visitors last year.
Like many private Cuban businesses in Havana, Clandestina
benefited from a boom in U.S. travelers since a thawing of
U.S.-Cuban relations in 2014. Some 70 percent of its shoppers
are foreigners, half from the United States.
But U.S. President Donald Trump in June ordered tighter
restrictions on travel to Cuba from the United States.
Washington also issued a travel warning to the island last month
after allegations of health attacks on U.S. diplomats.
A likely drop in U.S. customers in Cuba and the desire to expand
their business made it the perfect time for them to open up the
first Cuban online fashion store in the United States, the
Clandestina duo said.
"If the Americans don't come to Cuba, well, we will go to the
United States," said Del Rio.
As a Spaniard, Fernandez was able to register a company in the
United States, and a loophole in the embargo allows her firm to
hire Cuban designers. The aim, eventually, is to build Cuba's
first global fashion brand.
"Not a lot of people know what’s going on in Cuba," said U.S.
visitor Kasha Trogak, perusing their Havana store. "Curiosity
can definitely help to sell the product."
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Cynthia
Osterman)
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