In December 2020, Meya Carlos and her architect-mom, Menell, introduced Architect’s Curations to the world. Through Instagram posts that received orders from customers around Dumaguete City, the senior high student of De La Salle University shared photos of the native baskets with an array of product lines.
The baskets are highly indigenous, with a natural but rich color palette, and a large part is homegrown and unlike that of other native baskets in the Philippines.
So far, the Architect’s Curations Instagram feed discloses that, in addition to the standard basket design, the online store has fiddled in custom-made products such as native water gallon covers and table runners. It seems the digital store is also gliding into the retail realm as currently, orders are available for purchase on Shopee.
Architect’s Curations has all sorts of baskets made of Pandan with a symmetrical silhouette, in their own home-cum-warehouse, and received its first order for one after posting it on social media. “I like that they look good with interiors,” Meya told her mother.
Meya used her digital wit in marketing these mountain crafts while her architect-mom does the logistics of selling. “I’m a pretty heavy weekend marketer,” she added.
Instead of trying to banish artisan-competitors, Architect’s Curations has carried them into the fold, giving their exceptional designs a podium and adding multiplicity to the digital store’s own offerings.
Many of the indigenous product offerings are certified Tesda-trained weaving and include tray baskets, laundry baskets, pot covers, tissue paper trays and, soon, fashionable bags.
Since the later part of the lockdown last year and launching her native basket line, Meya has made a mark for herself as a digital marketer and a home favorite for indigenous furniture accessories.