What started as a social enterprise project is now a distinctively Filipino brand carving a name in the fashion industry.
Kandama Collective will be showcasing 25 pieces of weaves by the women of Julongan, Ifugao for The Society Fashion Week for New York Fashion Week’s show at Broad Street on September 7.
The brand, launched early this year, has hit runways of Paris in March for the International Indigenous Fashion Week.
Like the colorful fabric that Kandama Collective has, the creator behind it also has a colorful story to share.
According to a story shared by Inquirer Lifestyle, Victor Baguilat Jr. was on his way to finishing law school when he realized that it was not yet too late to do the things he wants.
In 2017, he came up with Kandama and pitched it to the Singapore International Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneurs Program. He got the nod for it and the rest is now the realization of his dreams.
So what is Kandama?
Baguilat describes it as “the intersection of all the things I love to do”. Since his college thesis is about women empowerment, he employed the help of the group of women in Ifugao.
Baguilat also has Ifugao heritage. In their language, Kandama means “power”.
