Push Admin

FilipinaZ Fair on Elevating Female-Founded Business and Filipino Culture

Everything we’re looking forward to in the event, from the Pitoy Moreno Tribute Exhibit to the Women in Design Awards

Article (news)

Marane A. Plaza

<p>Female empowerment and the preservation of Filipino cultural heritage are the main themes of the upcoming FilipinaZ Fair on November 16 to 18 at The Fifth at Rockwell. </p><div><br/></div><p>Organized by the non-profit group <a href="https://metro.style/fashion/inspiration/filipinaz-fair-zonta-rockwell-2024/39225">Zonta Club Makati &amp; Environs</a>, the fair will see more than 99 exhibitors of amazing clothing lines, bag and shoe brands, as well as jewelry brands – 67% of which are new in the trade scene and have never been seen in any shopping fairs before.</p><div><br/></div><p>“The Zonta Club of Makati &amp; Environs which is part of the Zonta International, has a mandate to make a better world for women and girls. I believe nobody is taking it more seriously than Zonta Club,” ZCME President Joanne Zapanta-Andrada told Metro.Style.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/b1977eb0-0cf5-42d0-91cb-bee1f6b45cc3_dsc08290.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">ZCME President Joanne Zapanta-Andrada</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>“We are focused on women for fair trade, so we will be featuring a lot of vendors who are new, and that we have deliberately searched from across the country, from Abra to Mindanao.”</p><div><br/></div><p>“It’s very important for us to give opportunities to new entrepreneurs, and mostly women, because they may not have the platform, network, venue or the connections,” Stella Cabalatungan, ZCME Treasurer, also shared.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/ad882394-eeb0-4f80-9c30-7483ad23c180_dsc08277.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">ZCME Treasurer Stella Cabalatungan</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>“You see a lot of businesses that have so much potential, and they just don’t have the opportunity and the reach, especially here in Manila. And that’s why we have reached out to some vendors as far as Mindanao, Visayas, Iloilo, Laguna, and up north like Abra. This is one platform that we would like them to use and expose their talents,” Stella added.</p><div><br/></div><p>Unique finds such as espadrilles that are as beautiful as the ones from Spain can be shopped at FilipinaZ Fair, Stella also imparted. “And they’re from down south Laguna.”</p><div><br/></div><p>“We have lovely native bags coming from different parts of the country, which were modernized and made even more fashionable,” she said. Some of them feature intricate embellishments, as “some of them collaborated with the beaders in Mindanao.”</p><div><br/></div><p>“We also have a jeweler that produces beautiful South sea pearls, and they are one of the oldest pearl farms from Mindanao.”</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Pitoy Moreno Tribute Exhibit</strong></div><p>Aside from female empowerment, fair trade and entrepreneurship, FilipinaZ Fair is doubling its efforts to preserve the Filipino heritage and culture, particularly fashion and art. And that’s how the Pitoy Moreno Tribute Exhibit for this year came about. </p><div><br/></div><p>The iconic Pitoy Moreno is celebrating its 100th year of legacy next year, with a book to be launched by his heirs in February. One of the nieces of Pitoy has been closely working with Zonta to locate and showcase vintage pieces for the <strong>Pitoy Moreno Tribute Exhibit</strong> at the FilipinaZ Fair, which will serve as a prequel to the book launch.</p><div><br/></div><p>This is not the first time FilipinaZ Fair located, gathered and showcased stunning Filipino fashion couture in a lovely tribute exhibit. </p><div><br/></div><p>“We have been having this fair for many years, and so about three fairs ago, we wanted to show the entrepreneurs what the masters were doing in the past,” Maritess M. Pineda, Las FilipinaZ President, also shared with Metro.Style in an interview. </p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/8b21e987-e6dc-496d-8db1-899516e9f544_dsc08339.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Maritess M. Pineda, Las FilipinaZ President</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>She heads the resource for Pitoy Moreno Exhibit and the Resource for Women in Design Award.</p><div><br/></div><p>“We started with the Ramon Valera exhibit three fairs ago. Ramon Valera was a close friend of mine, and barkada of my parents. And he was the first one we’ve dedicated a fair exhibit to.”</p><div><br/></div><p>Ramon Valera was bestowed with the National Artist of the Philippines honor in 2006. He is the first Filipino fashion designer to receive this distinction, as his Filipiniana couture design had been worn and celebrated by Manila’s first Filipino elites and fashionistas in the mid-1900’s.</p><div><br/></div><p>Maritess shared that for their Ramon Valera tribute exhibit, she donated her own debut and bridal gowns that had been preserved by her mother.</p><div><br/></div><p>“I now you realize why I am in this field of preserving our Filipino culture in art and fashion, because I feel that’s what I have been living for my whole life, and it’s time really for me to give back,” Maritess said.</p><div><br/></div><p>During the process, the Zonta group found out how hard it was to locate and find other well-preserved Filipino couture created by the fashion greats. </p><div><br/></div><p>“That’s one thing that I feel really sad about. All these legendary Filipino fashion designers worked so hard. They attained a certain stature, but at the end of the day, there’s nobody who properly preserved their creations. So I said, my dream was we will eventually have a fashion museum.”  </p><div><br/></div><p>“I kept nagging the National Museum, na sana naman we have our fashion museum. First of all, we can start with Imelda Marcos since she has many clothes. And then all these women who used to attend the historic Kahirup Ball, Mancomunidad Pampangueña Ball– all these big balls from the past. Their heirs don’t know what to do with their gowns. Surprisingly, I found out that Benilde was planning to put up one recently, a fashion museum.”</p><div><br/></div><p>Last year, FilipinaZ Fair gave tribute to the lovely Ben Ferrales. Known for his Muslim-inspired dress designs worn by the most loved actresses and socialites for decades, Ferrales had been celebrated as the Filipino culture’s “Dean of Philippine Fashion.”</p><div><br/></div><p>“Luckily, Ben Ferrales was still alive for our tribute, and his heirs were able to keep and donate creations for our tribute exhibit, which we were able to sell for Ben.”</p><div><br/></div><p>For this year, FilipinaZ Fair will showcase four well-preserved Pitoy Moreno creations for the tribute.“</p><div><br/></div><p>Pitoy, from what I remember of him, was very strong in making wedding gowns and bridal entourage fashion. So almost all of the peers I had at that time wore Pitoy. He was the one really known for Filipino-designed wedding gowns, and really put the Philippines on the map. He even came up with a book called ‘Kasalan’ which is a rare collectible now. His vintage fashion pieces are so rare too.”</p><div><br/></div><p>“Little by little, we were able to discover a few. The gown of Lyra Rufino-Maceda, the one of Gina Echanova, the one of Judy Roxas, and the one of the daughter Ria are the four vintage pieces we are working on now. They will be exhibited by the entrance of the FilipinaZ Fair. We are working with one artist as well to paint a Pitoy Moreno creation, and hopefully we can also showcase the painting at the fair,” Maritess narrated.</p><div><br/></div><p>Maritess explained that aside from the preservation of Filipino cultural heritage, the main goal is to educate the young generation. “We want the new generation to be inspired by these masters on what they were doing, and the kind of artistry and creativity that they had, which we don’t find as much anymore now.”</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Women in Design Award, Young Women In Design Grant </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>FilipinaZ Fair is also giving honor to exemplary women who uplifted the design, art, and culture of the Philippines, as well as the Filipino fair trade.</p><div><br/></div><p>“We have the Women in Design Award this year. The women we will honor should have excelled in the line they have, and they should be involved in trying to educate those who are following them or inspired by them. For me, you may be a great woman in everything you do, but if you don’t know how to share it with the ones who can learn from you, it does not mean much,” Maritess shared.</p><div><br/></div><p>The awardees include Patis Tesoro for fashion, Joy Dizon for jewelry design, Marga Valdez for accessories, and Imelda Cahipe for arts, as well as Ivy and Cynthia Almario for interior design.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/18aadb47-c04f-4783-a5f7-3ec25bed6aae_dsc08253.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Women in Design awardee Imelda Cahipe for arts category</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>“For the top award, particularly in elevating the way we do marketing, promotions, and international fairs for the Philippine products, we are going to award Myrna Gabor of CITEM.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img loading="lazy" src="https://assets-metrostyle.abs-cbn.com/prod/metrostyle/attachments/cbf7e8f6-5194-4858-b601-d298ecc06e80_dsc08369.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Women in Design awardee Dr. Myrna Gabor</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, the winner of the Young Women in Design Grant will reap amazing fruits such as financial reward and distinction.</p><div><br/></div><p>“The Young Women in Design Grant is made possible in partnership with the Philippine Fashion Coalition, and in partnership with Organique and Mestiza. We wanted to do this again, to give a platform to women, to designers who are new, a platform to be known. We are excited about this cos whoever will win the competition will have a financial grant,” Joanne said.</p><div><br/></div><p>The Zonta Group believes that the FilipinaZ Fair will elevate the way women do business with further partnerships, exposure, and economic opportunities. </p><div><br/></div><p>“The important takeaway, I believe, of this fair is that it is a fair created by women, for women, and the proceeds of which go to empowering women. And I think this is very much in alignment with the vision and mission of not just Zonta, but I’d like to think, a nationwide perception of how things should be moving forward,” Joanne said.</p><div><br/></div><p>“I think women should have a platform, and I think by empowering women, we do improve the quality of our choices of a nation,” she concluded.</p><div><br/></div><div><em>Visit the FilipinaZ Fair at The Fifth at Rockwell on November 16 (1PM-10PM), 17 (10AM-10PM), and 18 (10AM-9PM).</em></div><div><br/></div><p>Photos by <strong>Giancarlo Escamillas</strong><br/></p><div><strong>Related Story: </strong><a href="/fashion/inspiration/filipinaz-fair-zonta-rockwell-2024/39225" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here’s What To Expect At The Upcoming FilipinaZ Fair</a></div>