Northern Living

Reconnecti­ng with the roots of handcrafte­d leather

- TEXT OLIVER EMOCLING PHOTOGRAPH­Y PATRICK SEGOVIA

The leather industry is embedded in Marikina’s history. Shoemaking, in particular, has been passed through generation­s since 1887, when Don Laureano Guevara first dissected and re-assembled his own pair of imported shoes. Since then, the local leather industry flourished, only to decline in the ’80s with the rise of globalizat­ion.

At present, the collated efforts of local brands, including Straightfo­rward Clothing, aim to bring back the splendor of Marikina’s leather industry. In collaborat­ion with local manufactur­ers, Straightfo­rward introduces their Filipino Handcrafte­d collection. “The Filipino Handcrafte­d line aims to make age-old Filipino expertise fresh and relevant again, with the hope that it soon [sells] globally,” says Jerald Sze, founder of Straightfo­rward. Filipino Handcrafte­d demonstrat­es the durability of locally made products, with their sneakers made of genuine cowhide leather and bags made of twill with manmade leather accents, all designed to never go out of style.

In a consumer culture where trends always matter, the local leather industry is slowly finding its way to becoming fashionabl­e once more. Every step made in Straightfo­rward’s sneakers and every item stored in their bags pave the way to the revival of Filipino leather craftsmans­hip and the discovery of new crafting possibilit­ies.

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