Marga Nograles muses on Kaayo’s humble beginnings, weaving through difficulties, and keeping the conversation of sustainable fashion firmly in focus — by design.
Mind the ‘Now’ Stories
Marga Nograles’ has often described Kaayo as “a curated collection of different Mindanao stories” – yet it started with just one.
“My mom has worked with the T’boli tribe for decades, and she has a friend: Ate Elena,” Marga begins, “and there were times when Ate Elena and her daughter, Giegie, had to make ends meet, so I would help them out. Til one day, instead of giving an ayuda, I asked if I could buy one of the jackets they wove.”
This act of kindness would be a fitting start to Kaayo, which in Mindanaoan means “kindness,” “well-being,” or “beyond.”
Marga, wife to then Congressman Karlo Nograles, often wore the warm T’boli work to her husband’s stints in congress. The elaborately hand-beaded piece immediately caught the attention of those in the halls of power. “Everyone loved it!” Recalls Marga, “and soon I took orders and when we sold around maybe a hundred pieces, that’s when I thought ‘maybe we can turn this into something else.'”
With an education from Ateneo, working experience in New York and handling purchasing for Paul Smith, Marga taught Ate Elena and Giegie the basics of costing, mark-up, and sourcing. “Then I remember one day, Ate Elena asked ‘but what if they don’t want jackets anymore?’ and I said ‘then we’ll make something else!”
Weaving Creative Solutions
One of the key principles in weaving is how precisely and consistently the thread travels through fabric. Up and down. Side to side. Give and take. In the case of Kaayo, the pattern of effective collaboration is achieved through good communication, a back and forth, between Marga and her T’boli weavers.
“I run everything by the tribe,” shares Marga Nograles, “when I want to use a certain pattern or design, I first ask them if it’s ok.” She says though that not everyone is as open to dialogue. “There will always be people critical of working with Indigenous Peoples (IPs),” Marga Nograles admits, “but for me, I always focus on my ‘why.’ Why are we here? What are we doing this? Who is it for? Kaayo was a ‘social enterprise’ before I even knew of the term.”
Running in business-savvy circles, Marga confides that many of her friends (good-naturedly), told her to simply outsource Kaayo’s patterns to cheaper labor, once her brand becomes popular. “But I tell them, Kaayo is not my brand, it’s OUR brand.”
Marga’s commitment to help was recently formalized into a presentation she gave on how Kaayo is about sustainable livelihood and design, but also just as much about sustainable kindness. “It’s a movement. We’re creating a culture of kindness, sustainable kindness– the kind that promotes local, and gives back.”
And for that, the brand has often had to follow the market, designing for offer modified jackets, then Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs_, athleisure wear for quarantine, “and now with travel opening up we have our current resort collection.”
Clothing on Purpose
Kaayo’s latest Resort Collection reflects the brand’s approach to fashion– timeless, uniquely local, and flexible. “every piece we have is multi-purpose,” Marga says of their Pear Monokini– a bathing suit with belt that can morph into a tank for terrestrial use, or hold it’s delicate embroidery in the water just as well, “I (and close friends) personally test each on first! We’re quite pleased with the results and are confident others will find even more uses for it.”
Behind it’s multi-outfit clothing philosophy is Kaayo’s true story– that of a personal relationship between weaver and customer. “Every piece we make (in limited quantities), is unique. We have the strictest quality controls but every weavers is subtly different. I mean imagine, you have a pattern on clothing which someone dreamed of, and now you’re wearing it.”
Asked what the hardest part of her job is, Marga shares that “it doesn’t feel like work!” She exclaims, “I mean how did we get from nowhere to everywhere in 2 years? I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s God’s way of telling me I’m on the right track…”
“Something I noticed is how every empowered Filipino is looking to support local.” Says Marga, whose personal advocacy involves seeing the Philippines’ unique stories (in the form of fashion and other products), proudly represented on the world stage. “It’s a conversation,” she says, “here is our culture, may we see yours? What can we offer each other? How can we learn from each other.” And in learning, understand. It’s a Kaayo dream of a bright future certainly worth waking up to.
—alike.com.ph
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