Metro Exclusive: Meet The 10 Outstanding Merchants From This Year’s ArteFino Fair (Part 1)

Mark your calendars for the biggest artisanal fair in the Philippines. ArteFino invites everyone to a 4-day celebration of Filipino artistry and heritage. Guided by the theme ka-Pamana, which explores the idea of heirlooms, sharing legacies, and expanding Filipino influence, over 100+ exceptional Filipino brands will be showcasing their work on August 22 to August 25, 2024 at The Fifth at Rockwell, Power Plant Mall.

This year, we had the honor to converse with ten ArteFino merchants. In this two-part Metro Exclusive, get to know the innovators behind the most promising Filipino brands including Kathy & Kathy Bespoke, Follow Your Heart Bags, Angkan, Farah Abu, and Arao.

Read their stories below.

Kathy & Kathy Bespoke

Kathy & Kathy Bespoke are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. As a custom fine jewelry brand, co-founders Kathy Gregorio-Anover and Kathy Sarabia-Babst have mastered the art of adapting traditional jewelry techniques into modern designs. Their keepsake jewelry have charmed many. From their best-selling filigree and tamburin necklaces to their ornate solihiya-themed cuff bracelets, Kathy & Kathy Bespoke champions Filipino craftsmanship above all. 

Their pieces are always inspired by tradition. Kathy and Kathy likes to take inspiration from Philippine art, culture, fabrics, and nature. “We want to educate the young that this type of craftsmanship doesn’t have to look old. It can still be wearable and appreciated in today’s time,” says Kathy Sarabia-Babst.

There’s beauty in custom fine jewelry. The brand provides their clients the option to choose from 14 karat or 18 karat gold and which gems to put in their one-of-a-kind pieces, whether they want diamonds, rubies, or sapphires. Kathy Gregorio-Anover tells her clients to “pick something that you can wear all the time. Don’t pick something you’ll only wear on your wedding day and keep it in the vault forever. Jewelry gains more value when you breathe life into it.”

Follow Your Heart Bags

Follow Your Heart Bags started with printed bags back in 2004. Through the years, the brand learned sustainability and began to adapt usage of different elements that come from different parts of the country. When asked about her creative process, Follow Your Heart Bags owner and CEO Anna Catanghal-Antonio shares that the process begins with selecting discarded fabrics, thinking about the theme which usually reflect Filipino vibrant pop culture, and finally, sourcing various elements of the bag from their partner artisans in Abra, Benguet, Cebu, and more.

“We think of something very Filipino and we take it from there. Our clients love our bags which are designed with jeepneys, tusok-tusok, tricycle todas, and goldfishes in small plastic bags,” Anna continues, “When designing, we always ask ourselves will this be useful and relatable to the modern Filipino?” 

This sustainable bag manufacturer and conscious retailer supports not only the artisans of Abra, Benguet, and Cebu, but also provides livelihood to housewives in need of work. “Our workshop in Pasig employs mothers who can’t leave their house every day because they have small kids or family that need assistance at home. We engage them in a work-from-home set-up so they can earn for their family at the comfort of their own home,” says Anna. 

Angkan

Carol de Leon has been a designer of many brands in Los Angeles, California including Forever 21 but has truly never found her spark until she moved to the Philippines and founded Angkan. “Angkan is very different from my work in the past. For example in Forever 21, we get to find inspiration, fabrics, and materials everywhere. With Angkan, we like to be sustainable. We use our creativity with whatever is available to us and already available on the planet,” says Carol.

A resort wear brand at its core, Angkan has tapped a category in Filipino wear that hasn’t been explored before. “Traditional Filipino ensembles like ternos and barongs have this formalness attached to them. As someone who likes to visit the islands all the time, I wanted to create something people can wear on vacation. Being from California, where casual chic has triumphed over all else, I’m always inspired by pieces you can look stylish yet feel relaxed in.” Angkan’s banker shirts are special because traditionally, banker shirts represent capitalism and corporate style. Carol elevated the banker shirts into something more fitting to the vibe of the islands, a stark contrast from its main purpose. 

For Carol and her team of artisans, the pieces they create for Angkan have the same amount of craftsmanship with a terno. Each element is ethically sourced and is proudly made in the Philippines by marginalized communities. Taking inspiration from its Filipino definition which means family and tribe, the whole brand’s philosophy is to be inclusive. 

Farah Abu

Many know Farah Abu for making the accessories worn by the likes of Catriona Gray, Jodi Sta. Maria in The Broken Marriage Vow, Bretman Rock, and Drag Queen Marina Summers. In her 20 years of experience, Farah has inspired many individuals to wear what they want in the boldest possible way. 

She fell in love with accessory design because it makes her feel limitless and free. In order to fully grasp her overflowing ideas, Farah likes to keep a pen and notebook handy. Anything and anyone can inspire her work. 

To make a successful design, Farah has four aspects in mind. “Number 1 is design, it’s what makes it beautiful. Number 2 is comfort, how comfortable is it when people wear your stuff? Will it fall when you dance around? Is it heavy or light? Number 3 is engineering, the accessory has to fall a certain way where it flatters the person wearing it. Does it look like it’s dropping? Is it balanced? Number 4 is impact, how does the earrings look from afar, up close, or sideways? How do people react?” said Farah. If you nail all those, definitely that’s a successful design. 

Apart from the business aspect of her brand, Farah feels responsible for showcasing the world-class craftsmanship of the Filipino artisans under her employ. “It is essential that our designs highlight and honor my roots and the way of life in Mindanao.” There’s truly no place like home.

Arao

In Filipino, arao with an O means the sun. It is also the root word for arao-arao which means everyday. Arao is an everyday luxury brand that proudly features South Sea Pearls from the Philippines. 

Based in Hong Kong, Arao’s founder and creative director Mirabel Rosar made the brand with the Filipino in mind. “I’ve been living abroad for over 12 years now and I realized that not many people know about the Philippines. As a mother of two kids who are half Filipino and half German, it’s important for me to share my culture with my kids and of course, my community in Hong Kong,” said Mirabel. 

Arao’s collection for ArteFino 2024 features and promotes the conservation of corals in the Philippines. Mirabel shares that she pursued this business because “pearls are the most sustainable gems in the Philippines. Compared to other gems like diamonds and more, the pearl has no wastes. The pearl becomes the jewelry, the shell becomes an accessory or button, the oyster is what’s eaten.” This discovery made us fall even more in love with this national treasure.

Mirabel believes that Filipinos have so much talent and we have so much to offer. Her journey with Arao is just getting started.

Photographer: Bria Cardenas

Sittings Editor: Geolette Esguerra

Creative Director: Carla Buyo

Art Director: Raff Colmenar

Shoot Assistant: Syra Victoria G. Garcia

Special thanks to ArteFino