HANDLE WITH CARE
Funded by the European Commission, the exhibition Handle With Care was held on March 5, 2026 at the Maison des Réfugiés.
The Espero workshop was present for this event, organized in collaboration with the Textailes project.
The evening featured the presentation of the Narrative Clothes Collection; 30 fashion pieces accompanied by drawings, sketches and documents retracing the creative process. Each garment is the result of a collaboration between designers and people who experienced exile, carrying a unique story: one of rebuilding, resilience, and the relationship to a home that had to be reinvented.
Born from a collaboration of over two years with Farsi Prossimo, War Childhood Museum, and ANKAA Project, texTALES combines ethical fashion and human stories to foster the social inclusion of migrants. Through collaborative sewing workshops held across Europe, migrants and professional tailors co-design a sustainable collection, where each garment becomes the medium for life journeys and the expression of shared resilience.
For the Espero workshop, participating in this event aligns naturally with our approach to craftsmanship as a medium for expression and integration. We believe that manual creation offers far more than technical skills — it allows everyone to reclaim their story and share it through what they make.
Handle With Care is a traveling exhibition that will continue in Athens and Faenza. Each stop provides a new space for encounters and dialogue around the themes of migration, inclusion, and co-creation on a European scale.
We thank the TeXtales project, the European Commission, University of Arts of London, Fashion For Futures, Emmaus Solidarite, La Maison des Refugies, and Catherine Brickhill for this collaboration, as well as everyone who helped make this evening a moment of sharing and reflection
