Pilipinx Ako is a brand that mirrors my personal self reflection on identity as a Filipinx. Pilipinx Ako is a jewellery and clothing brand that inspires Filipinx globally to represent their culture. A simple google search defines culture as “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.” Pilipinx is a growing term to decolonize being Filipino, and the brand adds that it extends the definition to anyone that identifies themselves as Filipino, whether full, half, hapa, mestiza, mixed or part (and we absolutely love this message!).
Silviyana and Pilipinx Ako are brought together with the common idea of creating a narrative through design of our journey of re-rooting back to our Filipino heritage, while incorporating the culture of the place we now call home. The collection blends Philippine traditional indigeneous textiles with modern-day North American bridal design. Introducing the one-of-a-kind Filipino Wedding inspiration for the modern day Pilipinx.
Annalisa and Seychelle finally meeting face-to-face in Seattle A wedding collection for the modern day Pilipinx bride
Annalisa, the owner of Pilipinx Ako is a sustainability professional, her day-job is working for a local government to inspire and change behaviour for the betterment of our world. She turns to fashion with sustainability in mind as a medium for sharing her personal story and the importance of inclusion among the Filipino community. The new collaborative collection is called ‘pagkakaisa’, which translates to unity in English. In this Pilipinx-inspired wedding collection, there is inclusion for anyone who identifies themselves as Filipino, the main thread throughout this collection is respect. Respect for indigenous peoples and culture, respect for inclusion and respect for our Earth. In one design from our collaboration we admire and incorporate the Ifugao culture. Ifugao is an indigenous group that live in mountainous landlocked area of the Luzon province. Kiangan, which is considered the birthplace of the Ifugao people, is popularized by the beautiful terrain of hand-carved rice terraces engineered 2,000 years ago. The term ‘Ifugao’ is derived from a primitive world meaning “Earthworld”. According to Ifugao mythology, Earthworld is the realm of “the cosmos inhabited by humans and several groups of earth spirits, different from the Skyworld or Underworld beings”
The Ifugao people embraces a culture that uses ceremonial textiles as a crucial element in invoking gods in rituals – to seek for veneration or for some sort of spiritual protection. In the Ifugao culture, every symbol and colour definitely represents heritage and a strong meaning for veneration. We listened to the Ifugao community, learned about their ceremonial textile and asked questions on how we can respect their culture while incorporating our own perspective on design.
Pagkakaisa will inspire you to celebrate your identity and unify you to being Filipinx – whether full, hapa, mestiza, mixed or part on your wedding day. It will truly give you admiration for the unified forces of Indigenous Filipino culture, Filipiñana, eco living and modern design.
We invite you to kindly go on this journey with us. Stay tune next week to learn more about the Pagkakaisa bridal collection.
