Muni Muni
Maison Metisse
Tao Pô: Reconciling Mankind and Nature for a Sustainable Future was the theme of The Night of Ideas, an event held by the French Ministry of Culture and the Institut Français at The National Museum in the first week of October. Speakers included Archeology Researcher Hermine Xhauflair, Museum curator Marian Pastor Roces, economist and former Secretary for Socio-Economic Affairs Cielito Habito, Design Center executive director Rhea Matute, Philippine Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture head Angel Bautista, and Coffee Science Center expert Rich Watanabe and Pamela Mejia. Howie Severino moderated a discussion on food security and heritage conservation to propagate sustainability.
A fashion show of sustainable brands by Twinkle Ferraren, Muni Muni, Maison Métisse and Greenelas was held.
Twinkle Ferraren
“With my Twinkle Ferraren line, it’s always been this journey of wanting to learn about my heritage and Philippine textiles while making sustainable fashion,” said Ferraren. “And the more I learned about it, the more I learned about what’s involved in the process. If you want to call your line sustainable, there are many things you have to check in your supply chain, whether ensuring working with communities and raw materials and the ability o communities to produce sustainably.”
After typhoon Yolanda happened in 2013, for example, it was not until 2017 that many piña weavers could return with a new harvest and raw materials.
Twinkle Ferraren and her collection
“I was always frustrated that every time we wanted to scale, the weavers always said, ‘Oh, there’s no more raw material,’ or they could not do it. And it made me wonder, ‘Why and what’s happening?’ Resource management is important because the communities of weavers are the ones that make the fabric. With the people, craft, and skills, sustainability comes into play, including taking care of communities. It’s not easy. You go through thick and thin together, all the worst moments, such as floods.”
Ferraren said that she has to be resourceful. With the excess textiles from various collections she has made, she thinks of new shapes and forms.
For her collection in A Night of Ideas, Ferraren included her signature pieces, which has abaca accessories such as earrings, necklaces, and vests also made from abaca. There were also clothes made from retaso. “We like to play around with these off-cuts in pattern play and color blocking. There were also my kimonas, which were also made of retasos. We mixed them with beadwork.”
IG: @twinkleferraren
Maison Metisse
“Sustainability has always been a value of mine—in just trying to live a more mindful lifestyle—so it was an easy natural transition to carry that into what I really wanted to pursue in building a brand,” said Adrienne Charuel, founder of Maison Metisse. “In 2018, my family moved to the Philippines for my husband’s work, and it was perfect for me because I wanted to explore and see our weaving heritage, specifically if we did natural dyes here. I was interested in any craft similar to what I was learning from my Japanese mentor when I lived in New York.”
Maison Metisse
In 2018, Charuel did a three-day intensive workshop in Abra with a tribal community. “It helped come up with the idea, how can our collaboration work to help empower the communities? I saw that they lived in poverty. Being a small brand, I must work with one community at a time to make a significant difference.
“I was buying fabrics from the weavers and realized that at some point, everybody looked the same, just different silhouettes, and I thought, ‘How can I make my items look different?’ That’s when I realized I should focus on weaving our own textiles, dyeing it, and then embellishing it with the embroidery of the communities I work with.” Maison Metisse now makes its own woven textiles.
At The Night of Ideas, Charuel launched “new pieces featuring our handwoven bamboo textiles, where we do zero waste, meaning we don’t cut our weaves. So whatever the dimension of the weave is or the width, I drape it on a mannequin and make a design without having to cut anything.”
The collection was also influenced by her Japanese mentor in New York, who taught her that it was best not to cut anything when translating weaves into garments.
Adrienne Charuel of Maison Metisse
The experience with Maison Metisse is interactive for clients, who are educated on the creation of the clothing they order. Charuel aims for each customer to ask themselves why they like to buy things and the purpose of the brands they buy. She hosts open conversation sessions for anybody interested in the sustainability process.
“We call our brand ‘sustainable luxury’ because nowadays, what’s considered a luxury is like slowing down, taking your time mindfully. And I think our creations lure you or invite you into that kind of world because when you do touch our creations when you see them, there is texture, a sense of a different character. It’s organic, hand-woven, and linked to the weavers.”
IG: @maison.metisse
Everything is Green/Greenelas
“Everything Green is a social eco-enterprise,” said Camille Albarracin. “I was in the hospitality industry for more than 15 years. When I resigned in 2018, I was became a consultant for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to do their exhibitors’ manual. I was linked to a community called the CBFM (Community-Based Forest Management), where I could look into the materials in an agricultural way. They presented the materials to me and I said, ‘What if we turn this into slippers?’”
The brand turned agricultural waste into hotel slippers and has garnered many hotel clients since.
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- Greenelas collection
“Bakbak is waste, the false trunk of the abaca fiber. These actually fall out and usually are found on the ground. We’re into circularity. We get the materials, for instance, from Camarines Norte and a combination of other places. The processing of the material, which is the processing of agricultural waste, is done by a community in Bicol. Then it will be brought to the footwear maker and us in Quezon City.”
Greenelas, the fashion line of Everything is Green, participated in the fashion show during A Night of Ideas by providing designs to some of the designers.
“I see hotel brands still find it difficult to do an eco switch, deciding between sustainability and cost. You also have to be competitive while supplying sustainable products and ensuring you have an ecosystem when it comes to sustainability. Can we really give value to our artisans and products when it hasn’t been accepted yet by our society here in the Philippines?” asked Albarracin.
IG: @theeverythinggreen
Muni Muni
“I was in corporate and fast fashion for years, then I made it my mission to explore the alternatives. I started going around the Philippines and learning about the indigenous and local weaves in each region, not just weaves, but also crafts,” began Lara Raparan.
“Apart from using natural fibers for our shoes and bags, and apart from the ethical aspect of working with communities, making sure that they have sustainable income and that they can sustain themselves in terms of basic necessities for Filipino families, we use deadstock fabric. We source them in warehouses. We upcycle most of the dead stock fabric we source, breathe new life into them, and apply different techniques.”
Muni Muni
Raparan said that dead stock fabric is plentiful, goes into landfills, and pollutes the environment. The designs from the dead stock come in a limited run and are based on the material’s availability. “That’s where the creativity needs to kick in. We create campaigns around these designs and everything is for preorder with limited slots, so we don’t create waste. Everything is ordered by someone who is meant to order that piece in their custom size.”
For A Night of Ideas, Muni Muni focused on using natural dyes, including Japanese methods and ecoprinting. The brand also uses traditional techniques, like boiling leaves or bark, for a few minutes until the color is extracted. The fabric is soaked after.
“I think there is very high awareness from the creator and consumer in the Philippine landscape. I think the number one reason for that is because we really feel the changing climate. We’re one of the most vulnerable countries. Because of that, we have a high awareness of what’s happening. I feel like people in the fashion industry are really trying.”
IG: @munimuni.studio
