DAVAO FASHION and Design Council Foundation, Inc. (DFDCFI) aims to showcase the Philippine tropical fabrics through the b.LOOM (Beyond the Loom) project to support the weaving community in Davao Region as part of the Stellar Fashion Gala.
During the Habi at Kape forum on Sept. 18, DFDCFI president Emi Englis said the Stellar Fashion Gala event acts as a platform to support DFDCFI’s new b.LOOM project that will run for 3 years.
The Stellar Fashion Gala for this year is also the first event to focus more on the Philippine tropical fabrics with the collaboration of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI).
The b.LOOM project will not only promote and practice the communities’ traditional weaving skills but also explore new ways of weaving with alternative materials. The project is in partnership with the Mindanao Trade Expo Foundation, Inc. (MTEFI) and the weaving communities of Region XI.
Englis added that the event will also help improve the textile industry. He noted the challenges of the textile industry such as having few textile mills and the industry not at the mass manufacturing scale.
“So what we have are still community-based production so these are all handwoven by our traditional IP communities. So technically ganong level palang tayo,” he said.
The project’s initiative stems from the Republic Act No. 9242, also known as “An Act Prescribing the Use of Philippine Tropical Fabrics for Uniforms of Public Officials and Employees and for Other Purposes” encouraging the official uniforms of employees of government agencies to use Philippine tropical fabrics.
DFDCFI partnered with Discovery Samal for the Stellar Fashion Gala fundraising event that will be held at the Samal Grand Ballroom on September 28.
