By Saul E. Pa-a
SAN PABLO CITY, Laguna (PNA) – The country’s highly acclaimed fashion czars may be in for a surprise at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept 20, when rural women and mothers engaged in home industry projects inch their way to the fashion ramps at the Ayala Museum in Makati City’s commercial district to showcase their fashion creations dubbed as “Mga Likha ni Inay.”
“Mga Likha ni Inay” is a Philippine brand adopted by the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD)–Business Development Service Foundation (BDSF), a non-stock, non-profit foundation and an affiliate of the CARD-Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (MRI) established in 2008 in San Pablo City with branches across the country.
Raffy Antes, CARD-BDSFI community development officer, disclosed that the fashion show will not only showcase the creativity of their members through designs and apparel creations but also present the masterpieces of client-members from the indigenous tribes on the fashion center stage.
In an interview with the PNA here, Antes said that the creative works pay tribute to the richness in the culture and craft of the T’boli, Mangyan, Igorot and B’laan tribes and the exquisite Filipiniana collections.
Antes also said the cultural communities are among the microfinance clients-members of the CARD MRI and they help inspired the fashion motifs as the indigenous materials and authentic fashion accessories were sourced from their respective tribal villages.
He also said representatives from the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), designers, fashion icons, artists, apparel firms and companies in microfinance ventures are expected to attend the event.
Antes said the fashion event is one of the marketing programs of CARD-BDSFI which consolidates and taps the members’ products and “creation” potential to gain access to bigger markets.
The CARD organizers’ branding formula combines the women artisan entrepreneurs with locally sourced materials could produce quality and finely crafted gifts.
The program also ensures the sure market for the CARD members’ handicrafts and home industry products to gain sufficient sales for their microfinance business.
According to CARD-BDSFI event organizers, the products and events such as the “Mga Likha ni Inay” fashion show would boost their members’ micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and inspire them as micro-entrepreneurs who could help fuel the economy.
The Makati City fashion date of “Mga Likha ni Inay” is the fourth after the CARD-BSDFI staged the first fashion show in their Bay, Laguna training complex and succeeding shows at the SM City San Pablo and in one of the city’s village halls.
Antes said their foundation has sustained trainings in product development that would further enhance the capacities of their members mostly housewives and mothers as businesswomen.
The fashion show also aims to inspire members how their creativity, skills, craftsmanship and microfinance management could make their businesses meet global standards.