Manos del Uruguay was born in 1968, when a group of women were trying to find a way to promote economic and social development of women in the rural areas of Uruguay. The plan was to manufacture handicrafts with those tools and raw materials traditionally used, and commercialize them in sophisticated markets to which, individually, the members did not have access.

Now over 40 years later, the craftswomen, are the owners of Manos and have set up a non-profit association, with the objective of generating employment for rural women, allowing them to stay in their home towns, earn their living and develop themselves as human beings. Members are grouped in 17 Cooperatives distributed throughout the countryside, where they spin, dye, knit, weave and manufacture the yarn and garments that are sold worldwide.

Uruguay is in South America and is bordered on the north and north east by Brazil and on the west by Argentina. It has a broad coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. Uruguay is a small country consisting mostly of plains and some low lying hills where sheep and cattle graze. There are over 30 million heads of cattle and sheep and the breeding of these animals is the axis around which the countries economy revolves. Spinning and Dying are just two of these traditions.

From their beginnings, exporting yarns and garments has been one of their major objectives and their customers now include Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen New York, Victoria's Secret, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Peruvian Connection, J Crew and Banana Republic.