Welcome to Ashka: A Sustainable Fashion Experience
Ashka is a sustainable concept store located in Bern, Switzerland, dedicated to offering slow fashion and promoting conscious consumption among Swiss women. Our mission is to combat the fast fashion industry by providing versatile, high-quality clothing made from sustainable materials sourced from Peru and other low-income countries. Every piece is crafted in women's ateliers, empowering vulnerable women by creating ethical job opportunities.
Our commitment to sustainability is reflected in our use of natural fibers such as alpaca wool, organic cotton, and recycled materials, ensuring each garment is both eco-friendly and durable. As a proudly women-led brand, we focus on fostering female entrepreneurship and promoting gender equality.
Since our inception, Ashka has been a beacon for those seeking authentic, responsible fashion choices that resonate with their values. Our physical store in Bern serves as a hub for community engagement, offering a space where customers can explore unique designs, connect with our story, and embrace a lifestyle that cares for the planet. Join us in our journey to make a positive impact on the world, one sustainable garment at a time. Remember, "nobody is like you, and that is your power."
The genesis of Ashka lies in the heart of a Peruvian-Swiss entrepreneur, Nicol Ackermann Zevallos, who envisioned a sustainable fashion brand that bridges cultures and empowers women. Motivated by the need to combat the fast fashion industry—known for its massive environmental impact, including being the second-largest consumer of water and responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions—Ashka offers an eco-friendly alternative.
Our high-quality garments are made from natural fibers like alpaca wool, organic cotton, and linen, and are meticulously handmade by women, fostering economic independence. We believe that through sustainable fashion, we can change our environment and our planet. With our purchasing decisions, we can gradually improve our world by choosing quality over quantity.
Ashka is more than a brand; it's a movement towards conscious consumption and gender equality. Our concept store in Bern, Switzerland, showcases incredible artisanal designers and serves as a vibrant space where customers can explore the versatility of our products. We also feature natural products like seed accessories, bandanas crafted by women in Lima's prisons, and purses from Chimuk, an NGO in Peru. We proudly serve as a showcase for these brands. Join us in creating a world where fashion is a force for good.
Why support sustainable fashion?
Our Vision
Fast fashion is one of the main pollutant industries in the world, generating around 10% of global CO2 emissions, primarily from the production of raw materials such as polyester, nylon, and cotton. It is also responsible of creating 92 million tons of waste per year. It creates a culture of overconsumption while it highly affects the environment of the producing countries as well as it increases waste in the countries where it is sold. Not only this, but the industry offers very low standard and unethical working conditions to people in low income countries, including Peru, such as low wages, poor labor rights, and lack of safety, sometimes promoting child labor and physical and sexual exploitation of women.
In Ashka we want to change this by bringing a sustainable alternative to Switzerland. We support slow fashion and responsible consumption offering high-quality and versatile garments that have an extended life in our wardrobes and that create dignified jobs to vulnerable women in Peru.
How Ashka is supporting sustainability and women’s dignity
Our Mission
With our project we want to offer you clothes that are made with natural materials such as alpaca wool, organic cotton, silk, cupro and linen which are certified ecologically and socially conscious.
We also provide for you garments made with upcycling textiles, econyl and recycled plastic for example, they reduce the environmental footprint of fast fashion.
Moreover, we also want to bring you unique hand-embroidered pieces that have positive messages over them, so not only we act positively, but we also say it!
Our mission is also to make women feel empowered, unique, comfortable and beautiful with unique pieces that stand out and tell a positive message. We believe we all have the power to change the world by supporting ecologically sustainable brands that employ vulnerable women while we share positivity.
Ashka sustainable steps
2024: Our Store's Grand Opening: A Beautiful Celebration
2024: Launch of the Ashka brand, designed in Switzerland and produced in a small women's atelier in Lima (Peru).
2023: We were the guest of honor at the first alpaca fashion show organized by the Peruvian Embassy, in the Stadtsall of the Kornhausforum, Berne (Switzerland).
2023: Participation in Undress Project
Sustainable Fashion Show Schweiz
2022: Inauguration of our first store in Bern (Switzerland).
2021: Corner in a sustainable store in Lyss (Switzerland).
2020: Pop up shop in Biel's Christmas Market
2019: Sustainable fashion fairs, e.g. Frau Gerold Garten, Zurich. (Switzerland).
Hi, I'm Nicol, Founder of Ashka
As a Peruvian-Swiss entrepreneur and mother, I've been in the sustainable fashion industry since age 17. Growing up immersed in the alpaca industry with a family dedicated to sustainability, my mission has always been to create a brand that makes the world more sustainable.
Witnessing the challenges women face in Peru, I moved to Europe to train in International Sales, aiming to generate employment through sustainable fashion. I began selling my collection at street markets in 2019 and eventually opened my own sustainable fashion store in Bern.
Partnering with brands like Kuna Switzerland and Anntahra Peru, we offer a conscious shopping experience. Through my shop, I’ve connected with diverse women, emphasizing not only sustainability but also versatile pieces that enhance comfort and beauty.
The Brand
Creating good quality versatile fashion to get environmentally sustainable Design and you decide how to wear it!
Offering you comfortable garments that help your best version.
"Nadie es como tu y ese es tu poder!"
(Nobody is like you and that is your power!)
Designed in the old city of Bern (Switzerland) and created in our Women's atelier in Arequipa (Peru).
Our main goals are to connect women of both countries in order to generate job opportunities for them that are ethical and fair, and also to offer products created in a conscious way and environmentally sustainable.
