Clandestina: Cuban Entrepreneurship and Innovation

This lunch session has been closed to additional registrations. If you would like to attend, please email Nate Ren (nren@world-affairs.org) to see if we can accommodate you.

In the past five years, the number of self-employed Cubans has risen from 150,00 to 500,000. Havana and other cities are blooming with possibilities. Founded in 2015, Clandestina, Cuba’s first clothing brand, has taken advantage of Old Havana’s rich culture and new economic opportunity. Forming a unique collective of designers, artists, and creators, Clandestina designs all of its products in Havana and produces them in the United States. While navigating complex import and export regulations and abiding by high tariffs is far from easy, Clandestina has become the first Cuban brand to sell globally online.

The founders of Clandestina, Idania Del Rio and Leire Fernandez, will join the World Affairs Council to discuss preserving culture through clothing, supporting local development and entrepreneurship, and organizing worker-owned cooperatives in the Cuban economy.