Beautiful, local, sustainable products made by women
Creative, innovative, resourceful, nurturing and brave.
These are the kinds of entrepreneurs you’ll discover at the ongoing Fashion Design Studio pop-up fair by Kultura—all women, and all strong advocates of local, sustainable products that contribute to the empowerment of other women across the country.
A quick sweep of the fair, which runs until March 17 at SM Aura in Taguig, is a feast for the eyes, with vibrant, summer-ready textiles and accessories on display from cult brands such as Seek the Uniq, Boho Manila, Woven, Piesa and Pinas Sadya. Take a look at each stall, however, and enjoy a soulful experience, as you discover each brand story—like that of Cris Roxas of Brave Story, maker of clothes and animal plushies using scrap fabrics.
A product of the pandemic, Brave Story was established by Roxas, who has been working in the garment retail industry for the past decade, a Clothing Technology graduate of the University of the Philippines, who saw the amount of waste produced by fast fashion.
“I asked myself, how can I use fashion as a force for good?” said Roxas at the launch of Fashion Design Studio on March 1.
Using scrap fabrics that she found while decluttering, she started to create designs for Brave Story. These designs—most popular of which is Kwago, a patchwork owl plushie—are brought to life by a community of artisan mothers in Pasig City and Quezon City.
According to Roxas, creating for Brave Story has empowered the communities she works with to hone their craft while having multiple income streams and taking care of their families. Roxas said that she also ensures that the artisans are given living wages, especially after witnessing how garment factory workers are usually paid well below what they deserve.
Empowered artisans
On top of that, Roxas has educated the artisans on how to create quality pieces that they can be proud of. Some of their works, she says, have already found homes in Europe and the United States. The training that these artisans have received, added Roxas, has also empowered them to accept and work on couture designs, allowing them to expand their networks in the fashion industry. All these experiences, including Roxas’, are collectively part of their own brave stories.
Another passion project is WIX Manila, which handcrafts soy candles and creates other home scents, as well. Sarah Almeyda, founder, had started making the candles for herself because she experienced alopecia, or hair loss, prepandemic, and was advised by her dermatologist to find something that would spark joy and remove her stress. As an artist, she found that creating lavender-scented candles helped her immensely.
“The scent itself had a good effect on me, but it was also the fact that I was creating something that made me feel great,” Almeyda said. “My alopecia still comes back from time to time, but it’s now easy to manage because of this passion project—which, thankfully, has turned into a business, too.”
While established in 2019, her candle creations gained popularity during the pandemic, as she found that people, especially those working from home or living alone or far from their families, used her products to fight off anxiety and depression. Almeyda says that whenever she creates new scents—like the Kultura-exclusive ones named after Boracay, Baguio and Batanes—she always takes inspiration from personal experiences, giving each scent a unique touch.Aside from helping her customers reap the benefits of her products, Almeyda has also been able to give a few people from her hometown in Alabat, Quezon, meaningful employment. “Opportunities are hard to find in my hometown; I was lucky to have been able to finish my education and start this business, so that’s why I really hire from there and help them establish their lives here in Metro Manila,” she said.
All-natural ingredients
Like Almeyda, Che Secillano founded her social enterprise Dwellbeing because of a personal need.
“My son has eczema, and because we had to wash our hands all the time during the pandemic, he started to develop rashes. I asked help from a friend to formulate something for him using all-natural ingredients, and in a container that wasn’t the usual plastic bottle,” Secillano said.
That Lemongrass Liquid Hand Soap is now part of a full line of products that include sanitizers, all-purpose soaps, soy and beeswax candles, fabrics and linen, soap bars, dish trays and even a multiway scarf. Aside from using all-natural products, they also upcycle, making use of discarded glass bottles from bars for all their containers.
“If you go to bars, you’ll find that sacks and sacks of these bottles are just being discarded once emptied,” Secillano said. “And they’re clean, since these are just drinks used to make cocktails.”
Based on the brand’s impact report on its website, Dwellbeing has so far upcycled over 200,000 bottles. They also have a Return and Refill Program to enable their customers to reduce waste.
Secillano has taken the brand further by partnering with the Project Pearls (Peace, Education, Aspiration, Respect, Love and Smiles) Hunger Relief Program, which serves healthy and hearty breakfasts to children in the impoverished community of Helping Land, Tondo, Manila. For each item you buy from Dwellbeing, you also donate a corresponding number of meals to Project Pearls’ beneficiaries.
Finally, Secillano continues her mission to empower communities by hiring from the deaf community, who were with her at the launch. “It’s our first pop-up, and it has really helped increase their confidence level,” she said.
More brands with these kinds of stories await customers at the Fashion Design Studio. Spend an afternoon and take home more than just unique finds; discover the power that Filipino women have to effect change, in the most fashionable way they can.
