THE pandemic could have dampened the spirit of many. However, for some Dabawenyos, it could still offer opportunities for them to help other people continuously.
Fashion designer-entrepreneur Wilson Limon has never lost the spirit to help amid the challenges that every entrepreneur is facing these days.
“In a world where we are fighting an invisible enemy, social enterprises like us are faced with an unfamiliar territory. And we'll be honest. These two months have never been easy; especially in keeping our promise of livelihood to our most important stakeholders, our partner ethno-linguistic communities,” he said.
The person behind Niñofranco, which created the ethnic-inspired skirts of Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, did not have second thoughts about creating something that would allow him to help others and do what he loves at the same time.
“This project is very close to my heart. It takes me back to where I started. The prints that we used for the #MaskofHope were from my previous collections,” he shared.
“My love affair with artisanal craftsmanship started when I was working on my thesis. I thought of ways on how to contemporize local prints without violating the customary laws of the ethno linguistic groups,” he added.
The #MaskofHope has three special patterns. First is the Manata, which he conceptualized six years ago, gets inspiration from the inabal of the Bagobo Tagabawa. Second is Stellar, a pattern inspired from the T’boli group. Stellar was the first-ever fashion design competition he participated in and won. Third is Flanek, a print from Niñofranco’s Spring Summer 2015 that symbolizes the bayanihan spirit of the B’laan community.
With the struggles that he and his business are experiencing right now, he saw the need to evolve and strive for change.
“As Niñofranco treads carefully to the new norm, we want to give hope to our partner communities. We may not know what lies ahead of us, but somehow, we want to give them a #MaskofHope,” the young designer said. According to him, 20 percent of the proceeds go to communities.
Wilson revealed that each pattern has its corresponding ethno linguistic community beneficiary. For the Manata design, his team coordinated with Wimler Organization to help the Bagobo weavers in Bansalan. For the Flanek design, proceeds will be donated to Lamlifew Tribal Women’s Association. For Stellar, donations for the Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association Inc. (Lasiwwai) will be coursed through the Ateneo de Davao University Community Engagement and Advocacy Council.
To date, the #MaskofHope is serving clients from Davao City and Manila. A lot of inquiries from international buyers have been pouring in, too.
Unfortunately, they still cannot do international shipping at the moment.
The positive feedbacks that the project has been receiving has inspired Wilson even more to keep on innovating and incorporating the Mindanawon touch.
To his fellow entrepreneurs, Wilson has a message.
“Let us all help each other in any way that we can. We Filipinos are known to be resilient and optimistic. This pandemic shouldn’t be a reason to pull us down, we should always look on the brighter side. This is a chance for us to learn a lot of things; things that we don’t usually do when we were in a normal situation. Let’s make use of our time to learn and grow from this experience,” he said.
(Thanks to Wilson for the photos used in this column!)
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If you have special events and fashion tips to share, or just want to discuss about any fashion-related concerns with me, you are always free to reach me at mendoza.jennygrace@gmail.com.