HOMEGROWN enterprise Yvette’s Bags and Beads Collection has introduced a new line of products, as it envisions to help more communities.
The entrepreneur behind the 10-year-old business, Yvette Marie Celi, revealed that she has showcased another innovation in crafting fashionable bags once again. While she initially made use of plastic straw alone when producing her bags, she has now integrated another raw material into her creations.
The exceptional fashion designer and entrepreneur has married knitted plastic straws with woven nito (a kind of vine) placemats in coming up with dainty and fabulous bags.
Looking at the unique fashion pieces, it is impossible not to fall in love with them, especially if you are someone looking for an exciting accessory that will go perfectly well with your total summer ensemble. More than the aesthetic value of Yvette’s bags, it is the story behind its creation that makes it more precious.
Together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Davao region and Mindanao Trade Expo Foundation, Inc. (MTEFI), Yvette has been holding product development activities in several communities in the region. In June last year, she trained some members of the Tagakaolo tribe of Davao Occidental.
Although the group has been making nito placemats for so long already, necessary interventions have to be made still, particularly in improving the quality.
“I trained them so that they come up with placemats that are really of high quality. At present, the group of Nong Poldo (of Talogoy, Malita) has been supplying me hundreds of nito placemats in different sizes: 10 inches, eight inches, and six inches,” she shared.
As they were trained, Yvette has been accepting all of their outputs. This means that no nito placemat from them has ever been wasted, or any effort unpaid.
“What makes this product development initiative with the community is the fact that the trainer also becomes the institutional market of their produce. As with my case, I am the constant buyer of the Tagakaolo group,” she narrated.
Yvette shared that it is a win-win situation for her and the group: she has a sustainable source of raw material, while Nong Poldo and his team have a reliable source of income.
With Yvette having a wide market for her bags here and abroad, the community is assured of a steady buyer.
“Since my first order right after our training last year, I have never stopped accepting their produce because the potential for my new designs is really vibrant,” Yvette said.
Aside from the plastic straw-nito placemat bags, Yvette’s Bags and Beads Collection is now looking at innovating the romblon (pandanus plant) bags as well to make them more appealing to the stringent taste of buyers.
“I am currently studying on how to improve the total look of the ordinary romblon bags, and which indigenous materials I can mix them with so that they will look more trendy,” she said.
Yvette, together with the workers in her factory and various communities, have been preparing for a grand showcase during the country’s premier lifestyle event this October, the Manila FAME.