Unlike rationed sales, it is possible to purchase as many pieces as you can pay for.
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, July 8, 2025 — Tired of long lines, missing sizes and poor fabric quality, Cuban families are increasingly choosing to buy school uniforms in the private sector or abroad. The opening of Figuera, a private store that sells these outfits in Havana, accelerates the loss of state terrain in a commercial niche that until recently was an official monopoly.
Located in the central Paseo del Prado, in the Salón Smara de la Unión Árabe de Cuba, this Monday the business and its workshop welcomed customers looking for the desired uniforms. The firm also offers business clothing, and although its employees recognize that they do not have all sizes available, they can be ordered in advance and produced by the seamstresses.
Unlike the rationed sale, in Figuera it is possible to buy as many pieces as you can pay for
A line of about a dozen people were waiting outside the workshop to order or pick up clothing for the next school year. They did not have in their hands any document bearing the stamp and letterhead of any department of the Ministry of Education, which they were authorized to purchase. Unlike the rationed sale, in Figuera it is possible to buy as many pieces as you can pay for. They accept any payment, from Cuban pesos, through dollars to transfers by Zelle, the American instant payment system that is very popular among merchants on the Island.
There is no pushing in the line, no one shouting because someone has slipped in or because the end of some very sought-after size is announced. Everything goes smoothly because the clientele is already filtered by economic status. Unlike the subsidized sales, prices in Figuera have nothing to do with real wages. This is one of the last commercial sectors to have private offers, because the government has wanted for decades to prevent social differences from being expressed in the educational field.
In a country where the school uniform, according to level, is identical in each province, municipality and classroom, the loss of a monopoly on its sale is not a minor issue. Fidel Castro himself designed the clothing of some school grades and for decades penalized the use of blouses or shirts that, although similar to those prescribed, showed some mark or sign that they were made privately or had been imported from abroad.
Fidel Castro himself designed the clothing of some school grades
But the economic crisis and the inability of the State to meet the demand have been transforming the panorama and marking the contrasts between those who may have a new uniform every September and those who are obliged to reuse the previous one or alter the only size they have to fit their body.
“When I was in school, the only way to buy a uniform was in the State stores,” recalls a father who arrived this Monday with his children, two twins who will enter high school next year. ” I remember that in my teens I had a rash and had to go the whole year with pants that were short, because you had to wait for them to give you a paper so you could buy the next ones, and they only delivered it after the final exams.”
The sale of school uniforms in Cuba usually begins between May and June, but in recent years the date has been delayed due to lack of raw materials. Now the sale starts at the end of July and is marked by long lines and problems with sizes. Factory workers must extend their working hours for those dates and thus try to make the nearly 1.5 million uniforms planned for more than 1,000 schools.
The textile workshop in Figuera has seven workers; six are women sewing, and a man at a table does the designs. Among the employees there is a doctor who attends to the public and an engineer on the preparation side. The fabrics are cut and sewn and will end up being a uniform for primary, secondary or upper secondary education. Everything works with order and an unusual efficiency when compared to the State workshops.
“I ordered my grandson his first uniform for preschool which starts in September, and today I am here to pick it up,” says a proud grandmother accompanied by a restless child who does not stop jumping and running through the narrow corridor while waiting for their turn to enter. “At the time I placed the order I had to pay the full amount, and it took about two weeks to make three shirts and two shorts.”
In total, the woman has paid 7,500 pesos for the set, three times her monthly pension. “I’m the one who looks after him because my daughter and her husband are outside Cuba. They sent me the money to buy the uniforms since it’s impossible with my pension,” she says. “I’m also glad that I could save myself from standing in line at the [State] store, because last year I was standing so long that I got dizzy.”
“I hope it’s strong and durable, does not lose color with a few washes and can be left for the younger children who come behind”
“I hope it’s strong and durable, does not lose color with a few washes and can be left for the younger children who come behind,” the grandmother resumes. “These look pretty good but the last word will be the use.” A few minutes later the woman leaves with a bag that includes the clothes that the little one will wear, almost every day, in less than two months.
Two women who are in line, with their respective children, praise the possibility of having this private shop. “Until now, when I needed to buy a uniform without spending days in a line, I appealed to a neighbor who brings them from Miami; she buys them in Ño Que Barato,” explains one of them. Cuba’s large emigrant community in Florida has also shaped commercial offerings in the US.
Some of the shops in Miami make their money in August with every need that arises on the Island, from coffee “with Cuban roast,” through plastic covers to protect ration books, to uniforms of all levels of education. Every year the Ño Que Barato chain sells thousands of clothes that will end up in Cuban classrooms. The red-wine colored pants intended for males attending primary school are $14.99, while a blouse for pre-university students is $10.99.
“The only thing missing is the police uniform,” jokes a friend, who finally gets her turn to enter Figuera. The cool atmosphere, due to the air conditioning, the clean table where a seamstress cuts the fabric and the smiling face of the employee complete the experience. Uniforms sold by the private sector are much more expensive, but it is clear that they do not come with sweat, tears and shouting.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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