Nós do Crochê is Weaving Empowerment from Rocinha to the UN

It began with a simple question: How could one live joyfully across from Brazil’s largest favela without also finding a way to help?

For Daniela Vignoli the founder and coordinator of Nós do Crochê, a non-profit project based in Rocinha, that question became a calling. “I always thought: yes, I should live my happy and joyful life, but I should also help,” she recalls.

That conviction took Daniela into the narrow alleys of Rocinha in 2019, carrying donations from her condominium. Soon after, she created a crochet training class. “Often unable to leave their homes, these women needed a way to secure a minimum level of financial dignity and put food on the table. Since I didn’t know how to crochet (and still don’t!), I relied on incredible volunteers. One of them, Heloisa Cyrillo, became my great partner in the project.”

Beyond the craft, what Nós do Crochê offers is community. “Classes become a safe space where women can share their stories, their struggles, and their dreams. Gradually, they realize they are not alone, and this awareness is powerful.”

The women find strength in one another, celebrating progress and forming friendships stitched together with trust. Alongside handwork, the collective also offers medical, psychological, and even dental care through volunteer networks. “The needle and thread are just the starting point; what they truly weave is dignity, trust, and solidarity.”

One member’s story stands out. When Dona Ranuzia joined, she was deeply depressed and withdrawn. “She spoke with her head down, her voice barely audible. But what she truly discovered was a new version of herself. Today she sews, crochets, earns her own income, and above all, she says the greatest change is that she can dream again.”

For many of the women, this rediscovery of self-worth is just as important as financial independence. The collective’s impact is generational: mothers pass newfound confidence to daughters, creating ripples of change inside households that had once felt locked in cycles of silence or despair. In this way, Nós do Crochê becomes a living chain of resilience, where each stitch binds fabric and weaves futures.

The artisans’ work has now traveled far beyond the hills of Rio. This past year, Granado featured their crochet flowers in windows across Paris, Lisbon, London, and New York. “For the women of Rocinha, realizing that their hands, their art, and their stories have value far beyond the borders of the favela is more important than solely being a part of an international campaign.”

Many had never imagined their creations could travel the world. “When one of our women sees her flower in a window in New York or Paris, she sees more than yarn and stitches, she sees her own strength reflected back at her.”

The sight of those flowers in cosmopolitan capitals also reframes how the world views Rocinha itself. Too often reduced to headlines about poverty or violence, the favela is now represented through beauty, craftsmanship, and women’s voices. Each flower is both decoration and declaration: Rocinha is thriving, it is creating, innovating, and shaping the conversation about what sustainable fashion can mean globally.

On December 9th, 2025, Nós do Crochê will step into history, presenting their collection “Reflexos do Comum: To See and Be Seen” at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, during the UN Women’s Guild Bazaar. 

“For the collective, it means stepping onto a truly global stage and showing that the work born in Rocinha carries a universal message of resilience, creativity, and hope. It is proof that our voices, stitched together, can travel far and be recognized with dignity.”

The show’s central motif: mirrors embedded into crochet pieces. “The mirrors were never intended to be decorative. From the beginning, we saw them as a way to reflect not just an image, but a presence. They are invitations to empathy, and a reminder that when you look at the work, you are also being looked at.” Daniela calls fashion a “territory of encounter.” For her, clothing goes beyond fabric: it is visibility, identity, and activism.

“Fashion gives voice to women who have often been invisible. Every crochet stitch carries a narrative of resilience, creativity, and community. To wear something handmade by a woman in Rocinha is not just an aesthetic choice; it is an act of recognition, empathy, and solidarity.”

Today, more than 200 women have passed through Nós do Crochê, with another 200 waiting for a chance. The hope is to expand capacity, secure sponsorships, and continue crossing borders.

“My vision is for Nós do Crochê to become a model, showing that from the simplest threads, woven with care and solidarity, it is possible to transform lives and forge a more humane and sustainable future. One woman can transform a life; many women together can transform the world.”

In the end, what began with one woman’s refusal to look away from suffering has become a testament to what can happen when creativity and compassion align. The future of Nós do Crochê is unwritten, but it will be embroidered with the colors of resilience, the texture of solidarity, and the shimmer of mirrors that remind us all: to see is also to be seen.