CLOSER TO HOME

With the temporary closure of her business, ROSENTHAL TEE was at a loss. Her sister, a frontliner in the battle against COVID-19, inspired her to make Personal Protective Equipment

For most in the metro, there was a sense of detachment about the issue of COVID-19. “We were, I suspect, a little bit in denial about the gravity of the situation, and I paid very little attention to it because I thought it was so far away from us,” says Rosenthal Tee. The designer held on to this sentiment until the week before the announcement came from Malacañang to hunker down for the long haul. “In an industry that thrives on people socializing, my business suddenly suffered a loss of about 85-90% in the week leading to our closure,” she says, “all I could do was to give financial cash advances with what physical cash I had on hand and allocate allowances that the company could shoulder to help those we had required to go home.”

Very dedicated to her work, Rosenthal found herself at a loss when she made the decision to keep her staff safe. “I fell into a little bit of a depressive mood, and it was my sister, Raissa, who is also a frontliner herself, who kicked me out of my pity party and told me to explore what I could do to keep myself busy,” she says, “after much effort on her part to make the current situation clear to me, I decided to get my head into the crisis and try to do my part with the current skill set we had available to help.”

In any business, one either adapts or dies. Rosenthal decided to adapt by producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the frontliners in the war against COVID-19. “The Rosenthal Tee main production studio is currently producing PPE suits for frontliners in various hospitals in the Metro,” she says, adding that the next goal is to try to address provincial requests in the next few weeks. Rosenthal mentions it was serendipitous that she had the idea to produce PPE’s, owing to the fact that two of her seamstresses could not go home to their respective provinces. “It helped that they were around so at least the company could provide a salary to them and help more people out in the field at this time by using our available skill sets to get things running,” she says, adding that “this pandemic only proved that it’s always best to fall back on a product that is ultimately essential, in order to survive in this newer circumstance we’re all currently adjusting to.”

In addition to using her design know-how, Rosenthal is also spearheading a food drive for healthcare workers and frontliners through her other businesses. As one of the proprietors of Lotus Gin Room and Cheech and Chang Hong Kong Roasts, she is working to make sure food packs are produced to different hospitals.

It has been heartening for Rosenthal to see her fellow designers take up the cause in addressing the crisis. “Some like myself and my team are already producing PPE’s. Other teams are also dealing with the crisis by creating face shields and facemasks as well,” she says, “we are an industry driven by talented hands. It’s just a matter of giving us something to do for us to better help out.”

Rosenthal is optimistic that eventually, things will return to normal. “I have always been an advocate and believer in slow fashion, and I feel that once people can socialize again, our clients will also return,” she says. Fashion for Rosenthal used to revolve around the power that clothing gives to the wearer. But with the current crisis, she has found a shift in her mindset, something she is thankful for. “I suppose from giving our clients the power of beauty, we are now giving our frontliners the power to protect Life,” she says, “it’s a very heavy responsibility but I’m glad that I am able to contribute because it literally hits me at home, having a sister as a frontliner.”

“Help is on its way,” she adds, “and we are working as fast as possible to make sure that you can better equip yourselves in helping preserve life.”