High Fibre Fashion

The southern Philippines island of Aklan has a long tradition of producing mats, holdalls and clothing with locally-grown fibres such as abaca from banana, pina from the pineapple leaf and nito from a wild forest vine. But the products were simple and their value was low. Local development organization USWAG was seeking to help improve the income of rural women and founder Didi Quimpo believed that establishing a marketing centre to sell handwoven products internationally would help them to achieve better returns. In their third year of business sales have grown to more than a million pesos (US$25,000) a year.

One glance at the range of products on show in the USWAG showroom in the provincial capital Kalibo, and the reason for the growth in sales is evident. Bright-coloured open-weave placemats and backpacks with flower motifs are displayed alongside intricately-knotted, natural abaca handbags. The fibres - and the craftsmanship - may be local but USWAG hired the creativity of international designers to develop new products. When, at last year's international craft trade fair in Manila, USWAG brought out their new samples of tableware woven from the striking black and tan forest nito vine, they were overwhelmed with orders.

Propped against the chicken pen outside the home of grandmother Digna Masoola there are several two-metre tall bundles of spiralling nito stems. To meet the latest orders, Digna has to source good length nito from the inland communities who gather it from their forests. She also has to be prepared to pay more, if necessary, to ensure a regular supply. Inside, Digna is stripping and splitting the narrow stems ready for weaving. At her side, her daughter Rowena weaves the shiny, black and brown flat fibres into a tight spiral. Round and round, it will grow into a mat destined to be the centrepiece of a European table. "We like to sell to USWAG because we get paid straight away," says Rowena and her mother adds, "If we need money for something we can get a loan and pay back with what we weave."

Maintaining quality is of utmost importance. "These are home-based industries and you cannot be in those houses checking all the time," explains Didi Quimpo. "So we have to help the weavers with quality and reject what they've made if it's not good enough. No-one will buy slippers that don't match, a container that isn't symmetrical or a mat that isn't flat."

In the cool of a purpose-built weaving house, Marbelline Marceau, the co-ordinator of the Nabas village weavers, gathers the producer group together to discuss their next order. For generations, villagers in Nabas made simple sleeping mats which sold for just a few pesos but now they dry and split the long, strong palm leaves known as 'bariw' to make shopping bags. They are bought by Japanese and Korean tourists but they do not sell as well as the nito ware produced by other groups. Marbelline is eager to try out new styles and is confident the weavers will be able to produce the quality that buyers demand.

The ongoing challenge for USWAG is to come up with new designs to keep all the island's fibres in fashion, in demand on the international market - and to stay ahead of competition. Otherwise the weavers of Aklan could find that demand has moved on to other products from other places. Didi Quimpo and her weavers will have to be as strong and versatile as the fibres with which they work to secure a future in the fast-changing international world of fashion.

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