From conflict to catwalk: Women ex-combatants weave reconciliation in Colombia

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Katerine Avella is a former combatant in Colombia’s decades-long civil war, a peace signatory and a community leader. After the guns fell silent, she created the fashion brand Ixora but, with violence returning to the region, Ms. Avella is now focusing on trying to keep the project afloat in the face of new challenges.

Peace must be sewn, stitch by stitch.

With this idea in mind, Ms. Avella set herself to work at a small sewing workshop in Catatumbo, Colombia, one of the dividends of the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian Government and FARC rebels, designed to help reintegrate former combatants, and heal the wounds of the conflict.

Like many former fighters, she was looking for a way to rebuild her life after the war, and the workshop served as a space for training, care and empowerment for women that would contribute to preventing gender-based violence – a place where they could learn a trade, support each other and regain confidence in the midst of a territory marked by violence.

Along with several other women, Ms. Avella set up Stitches for Peace, which began making sweatshirts, T-shirts and uniforms. But in 2021 the project took an unexpected turn towards high fashion.

At an initiative led by the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, she met Lina Garcés, an economist trained at the Externado University and the founder of a second-hand clothing boutique called Lina’s Closet, in Cúcuta. 

Ms. Garcés used to say that her shop sold “second-chance clothes,” a phrase that would soon take on a new meaning.

Ms. Garcés agreed to participate, although not without reservations. Her personal history was marked by the armed conflict, and her family had been victims of a kidnapping, which left painful memories.

However, she decided to travel to Caño Indio, in the middle of the Catatumbo jungle, where she found a place very different from the fashion world in which she worked: prefabricated accommodations, zinc roofs, unpaved roads and communal bathrooms.

But she also found something she did not expect: talent. “The women had an impressive ability,” she recalls. “The one who sewed did it with incredible precision; the one who cut had the pulse of a professional.” Many had learned to handle needle and thread during the war, mending uniforms or boots. Now that knowledge wove another story. 

UNVMC

Katerine Avella and Lina Garcés celebrate the creation of the Ixora brand’s skirts.

The skirts of Ixora and reconciliation 

For fifteen days they worked intensely on designs, sizing and finishes. From those days was born the idea of creating wraparound skirts with prints inspired by the Ixora flower, a plant that blooms all year round and symbolizes resistance and perseverance in Catatumbo.

As a result of all the workshops, the brand ‘Ixora, inclusive and autonomous’ was born. By the end of 2021, they already had a first collection, which they presented at the Julio Pérez library in Cúcuta. The parade brought together victims of the conflict and peace signatories on the same catwalk. 

Sometime later, during a discussion at the Cúcuta Book Fair, where they were invited to tell their story, Ms. Garcés told her family history for the first time before the public. As she spoke, Ms. Avella listened to her in silence. Ms. Garcés said in front of the audience: “For me, today they are sensitive women, who want to move forward. For my part, there was forgiveness; now I want to support them and let more people know their work so that we can live in peace.”

The skirts began to be sold through Ms. Garcés’s store and soon other designers were interested in the initiative. Ixora began appearing in fashion shows in Tibú, Ocaña and Bogotá, and in 2022 they arrived for the first time at Colombiamoda, the most important textile fair in the country. They did so again in 2023 and 2024, as special guests, on the catwalk.

UNVMC

Women from the Ixora brand at the trade show following the conclusion of a garment-making workshop organized by UNVMC

Violence returns

However, this story of reconciliation, entrepreneurship and peace was strongly affected in January last year, when violence intensified again in this region. There were massive displacements, murders of social leaders and ex-combatants, and thousands of families were forced to leave their homes.

The sewing workshop had to close. “The women didn’t want to go back out of fear,” Ms. Avella recalls. At that time, the priority was to protect life.

Paradoxically, in the midst of that crisis came news that they had been waiting for months: Ixora had been officially registered as a trademark in Colombia by the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce. But they decided not to celebrate. “It wasn’t the time,” Ms. Avella says. “There was too much uncertainty.”

Today the project is going through a forced pause. The sewing machines are still in Caño Indio, while the women are waiting for guarantees to be able to move to a new, more secure space in a rural area of Cúcuta. 

Hope for the future

Even so, the story of Ixora is not over. The brand has just won a project with the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) to accompany other women in self-care and psychological support processes. It is a new stage for Ixora, which now seeks not only to generate income, but also to offer a space of well-being for those who have lived through the impacts of the conflict.

“This project is a dream,” says Ms. Avella serenely. “Beyond the economic side, it means keeping our association alive and showing that we can build something different.”

In the meantime, the women wait for the moment to turn the machines back on. In Catatumbo, where so many stories end abruptly, Like the flower that gives it its name, there is hope that Ixora will bloom again, even in the most difficult conditions.

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Katerine Avella is a former combatant in Colombia’s decades-long civil war, a peace signatory and a community leader. After the guns fell silent, she created the fashion brand Ixora but, with violence returning to the region, Ms. Avella is now focusing on trying to keep the project afloat in the face of new challenges.

Peace must be sewn, stitch by stitch.

With this idea in mind, Ms. Avella set herself to work at a small sewing workshop in Catatumbo, Colombia, one of the dividends of the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian Government and FARC rebels, designed to help reintegrate former combatants, and heal the wounds of the conflict.

Like many former fighters, she was looking for a way to rebuild her life after the war, and the workshop served as a space for training, care and empowerment for women that would contribute to preventing gender-based violence – a place where they could learn a trade, support each other and regain confidence in the midst of a territory marked by violence.

Along with several other women, Ms. Avella set up Stitches for Peace, which began making sweatshirts, T-shirts and uniforms. But in 2021 the project took an unexpected turn towards high fashion.

At an initiative led by the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, she met Lina Garcés, an economist trained at the Externado University and the founder of a second-hand clothing boutique called Lina’s Closet, in Cúcuta. 

Ms. Garcés used to say that her shop sold “second-chance clothes,” a phrase that would soon take on a new meaning.

Ms. Garcés agreed to participate, although not without reservations. Her personal history was marked by the armed conflict, and her family had been victims of a kidnapping, which left painful memories.

However, she decided to travel to Caño Indio, in the middle of the Catatumbo jungle, where she found a place very different from the fashion world in which she worked: prefabricated accommodations, zinc roofs, unpaved roads and communal bathrooms.

But she also found something she did not expect: talent. “The women had an impressive ability,” she recalls. “The one who sewed did it with incredible precision; the one who cut had the pulse of a professional.” Many had learned to handle needle and thread during the war, mending uniforms or boots. Now that knowledge wove another story. 

UNVMC

Katerine Avella and Lina Garcés celebrate the creation of the Ixora brand’s skirts.

The skirts of Ixora and reconciliation 

For fifteen days they worked intensely on designs, sizing and finishes. From those days was born the idea of creating wraparound skirts with prints inspired by the Ixora flower, a plant that blooms all year round and symbolizes resistance and perseverance in Catatumbo.

As a result of all the workshops, the brand ‘Ixora, inclusive and autonomous’ was born. By the end of 2021, they already had a first collection, which they presented at the Julio Pérez library in Cúcuta. The parade brought together victims of the conflict and peace signatories on the same catwalk. 

Sometime later, during a discussion at the Cúcuta Book Fair, where they were invited to tell their story, Ms. Garcés told her family history for the first time before the public. As she spoke, Ms. Avella listened to her in silence. Ms. Garcés said in front of the audience: “For me, today they are sensitive women, who want to move forward. For my part, there was forgiveness; now I want to support them and let more people know their work so that we can live in peace.”

The skirts began to be sold through Ms. Garcés’s store and soon other designers were interested in the initiative. Ixora began appearing in fashion shows in Tibú, Ocaña and Bogotá, and in 2022 they arrived for the first time at Colombiamoda, the most important textile fair in the country. They did so again in 2023 and 2024, as special guests, on the catwalk.

UNVMC

Women from the Ixora brand at the trade show following the conclusion of a garment-making workshop organized by UNVMC

Violence returns

However, this story of reconciliation, entrepreneurship and peace was strongly affected in January last year, when violence intensified again in this region. There were massive displacements, murders of social leaders and ex-combatants, and thousands of families were forced to leave their homes.

The sewing workshop had to close. “The women didn’t want to go back out of fear,” Ms. Avella recalls. At that time, the priority was to protect life.

Paradoxically, in the midst of that crisis came news that they had been waiting for months: Ixora had been officially registered as a trademark in Colombia by the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce. But they decided not to celebrate. “It wasn’t the time,” Ms. Avella says. “There was too much uncertainty.”

Today the project is going through a forced pause. The sewing machines are still in Caño Indio, while the women are waiting for guarantees to be able to move to a new, more secure space in a rural area of Cúcuta. 

Hope for the future

Even so, the story of Ixora is not over. The brand has just won a project with the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) to accompany other women in self-care and psychological support processes. It is a new stage for Ixora, which now seeks not only to generate income, but also to offer a space of well-being for those who have lived through the impacts of the conflict.

“This project is a dream,” says Ms. Avella serenely. “Beyond the economic side, it means keeping our association alive and showing that we can build something different.”

In the meantime, the women wait for the moment to turn the machines back on. In Catatumbo, where so many stories end abruptly, Like the flower that gives it its name, there is hope that Ixora will bloom again, even in the most difficult conditions.