Carryalls with soul

Glocal bags you can brag about from the heart
By Deneb R. Batucan and Patricia May P. Catan

 

IT’S handy, stylish and functional. It carries our everyday essentials and sometimes finishes the look we’re going for the day. If you haven’t guessed, we’re definitely talking about bags. Bags come in different shapes and sizes, but still carry the same purpose. We often dream of owning internationally branded bags because of the promise they’ll last longer and at the same time make you look chic, never mind if they look similar and without character. Bags are our everyday lifeline, but do you ever have the eye for truly unique bags that are either locally crafted or enhanced but are just as practical and fashionable? Check out these bags with a glocal touch you can passionately brag about.

Tina Campos Creations

Tina Campos Magistrado always had passion and love for crafts ever since she was 12 years old. For what was a mere hobby during her childhood years, has now become her family business.

Tina Campos Creations started back in 2003 when Tina herself was working in Manila for a fashion magazine. With the inspiration to introduce local handmade products to the global market, she ventured into producing bags with the use of exported quality materials.

Believing in the fact that Filipino talent can indeed compete in the global market, Tina showcases Cebuano culture through her designs. Made of hard plastic materials that are weaved in Laguna and South of Cebu, her colorful bags surely stand out in the market.

Tina Campos Creations’ buyots aren’t your average bags because with Tina’s special trademark of handmade tassels, semi-precious stones and brass metal — these further make her products unique as it exudes that vintage look.

Showcasing beautiful sites found in Cebu, she translates these into her buyot designs through the image of Sto. Niño, Sirao Flower Garden and Cebu’s white sand beaches to mention a few. All these are hand painted by her daughter, Marianne and UP Cebu Fine Arts student, Jessie.

“My brand speaks elegance and represents one-of-a-kind fashion accessories by using high quality materials like semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls and brass metal,” Tina shared.

Tina Campos Creations’ bag display can be found in Urban Lifestyle Cebu and in Duty Free at Mactan International Airport. Come October, Tina Campos Creations will be opening another shop in Boracay and next year, will be preparing for an international trade show in Dubai.

K’s Atelier Hand-Painted Bags

Looking at the designs of Katherine Paler Rivera, or K as she likes to be called, there is a refreshing and serene sense that comes with it. It spruces up an already pretty handbag with a beautiful hand-painted acrylic design that’s personal to the owner and makes it very unique with a great sense of style.

K, a fine arts and senior high arts and design teacher, is a fine arts major in painting graduate from the University of San Carlos. She started doing her hand-painted designs on bags, as well as clothes, last summer when she got bored and had a rush of creativity inside her.

“I got bored and started painting my old and torn leatherette with a picture of Wonder Woman,” she said.

After doing that, a friend of hers asked her to paint a pair of denim pants and a skirt to wear for her vacation in the United States. And by word of mouth, her clientele grew.

Most of K’s clients and friends ask for a floral design on their bags and clothes or sometimes fictional characters or their favorite animals or just anything their hearts desire. However, K would always take it into consideration the shape of the material and what design fits for the bags or clothes.

“I believe my four years of training in fine arts and my experiences in a way give me a keen eye for design,” she mused.

K has a deeper reason why she paints. Every time she creates a piece, K prays or listens to praise songs. “It’s my way of being disconnected to the world and be connected to the giver of my talent. Painting for me is a way to glorify God and share my passion to others,” she said.

Get your bags a personalized hand painting through the Facebook page K’s Atelier or contact K at 09176216440 or 09228216440.

Raffabac Designs

Four young entrepreneurs from the University of San Carlos came together in the hopes of preserving Filipino culture through their bag line, Raffabac Designs. Raffabac Designs started as a student enterprise that tapped local weavers to help boost Philippine tourism.

Taking inspiration from fellow Filipinos and the things they see every day, their bag line uses two of the most common indigenous materials originating from Cebu — raffia and abaca fiber. This then led to the birth of their brand name Raffabac which comes from “Raff” and “abac.” This young group is composed of Kyle Therese Juanico (Head for Marketing), Sean Kevin Manglapus (General Manager and Head for Finance), Kim Andrei Villa (Head for Operations), and Miguel Niko Salimbangon (Head for Human Resource).

To showcase and preserve the weaving industry of the Philippines, Raffabac chose weaving out of all the methods used to produce bags because these young entrepreneurs wanted to let other Filipinos embrace the weaving culture of the Philippines and they also wish to shed light on the beauty of the craft.

With the brand’s main focus on Cebuano craftsmanship, the brand uses the hinablon fiber, which is woven by one of the local communities in Argao and they also make use of the best fabric and materials found in Cebu to guarantee their product’s durability, reliability and versatility.

“We describe our brand as being just like a growing flower. As of now we are still a small plant trying to find its way in the big world, but we will always find ways to overcome any obstacle and will eventually bloom to a beautiful one if given enough time, care, and effort,” shared Raffabac as they described their budding brand.