apesigned - Advanced Performance for Equity - was born in 2012 when Jeanne von Segesser (MIA 2008) went back for a second time to Vietnam, where she traces half of her ethnic origins, to establish a local artisan’s network.

Jeanne began travelling the world when she started university, discovering her love for handcrafted products as well as similarities between handcrafted patterns around the world. She went to South and Central America, Africa and Asia, discovering Vietnam for the first time in 2006. The idea of creating a network combining the handcrafted products of diverse ethical minorities with the local know-how of the artisans stemmed from these voyages.

The idea deepened throughout her Master studies in International Relations at the Graduate Institute Geneva in 2008, with specialisation in sustainable development,  and during professional experiences in multinational firms in fields such as fashion, events and marketing.

In May 2012,  merging her ideas and passions with local craftsmanship, she created a global online retail platform with tailor-made products handcrafted by local artisans from all over Vietnam. By promoting the products featured on apesigned, the label hopes to shine a light on the rare artistry found in Vietnamese culture and to stimulate local economies in an equitable and sustainable way.

The word apesigned means signed by an ape and is a reference to our origins and the nature we all come from and which we  should respect, while the abbreviation ape in the pictogram stands for «Advanced Performance for Equity».

After establishing the on-line platform to increase visibility and  fuse artisanal know-how with actual fashion trends, apesigned’s next step is to collaborate with small firms producing ecological and sustainable fabrics.