Carry your culture: Designer bayong
In Banago, a small town in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, a group of women weavers creates bright-hued traditional Filipino tote bags with native patterns and distinct designs. Using wild grass and palm leaves to reinvent the bayong, the women have found a s
With an extensive experience in the fashion industry, Renee Patron — born in Los Angeles and raised in Cebu, then studied fashion in New York, Paris, and Tokyo — one day decided to create a business that is relevant to both her and her culture. At a turning point in her life, when she went back to her hometown to visit her sick grandmother, she decided to build around the tradition of making
banig (mats) and turn it into something that will capture the interest of the global market.
In retrospect, Renee recalled how mat weaving was and still a tradition in Banago and saw the possibilities of it flourishing into a livelihood, which can help the whole community.
“The Banago brand was created to support and expand the livelihood of artisan communities in the Philippines. Growing up seeing both my mother and grandmother work at home, sewing clothes for the Los Angeles garment district factories while taking care of my sisters and I at home while my father went to work, I understood the importance of cottage industries and how they improve the lives of women,” shared Renee on Banago’s website.
The designs are influenced by the Pintados or the painted warriors who were natives to the land during the pre- colonial period, whose bodies were covered with traditional tattoos. It is also an annual cultural-religious festival in Visayas that celebrates the feast of Sr. Sto. Niño, as well as the rich cultural heritage of the region while incorporating native music and dances in the month-long feast. Just like the Pintados, Banago bags and purses display the vibrant and beautiful Visayan culture as seen on the handcrafted products.
Banago also provides assistance in the recovery of communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan by extending livelihood opportunity to the survivors. Every purchase of a Banago bag goes to support local communities and disasterstricken ones — financially empowering more than 400 local women and families while keeping the art of weaving vibrant and relevant.
“So far, we have been successful because we have stayed true to our beliefs that true luxury is having the ability to help,” she added.
Banago is growing in the high-end worldwide fashion industry with over 500 retail outlets across continents with big retailers like J.Crew, Wynn Hotel Resorts, Trina Turk, Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Beams Japan selling the bags, as well as collaborations with Tommy Bahama and TOMS.