We would like to introduce you to our weavers at the Easter Weaving facility based in Baguio City, Philippines.
The Cordillera Region This Region is composed of many tribes located mostly in Mt. Province, Ifugao and Benguet. The Center is in Baguio City where a small group of women have continued the traditional weaving of indigenous clothing. They incorporate traditional designs into modern weaves.
We have used two of their designs in our sneaker collection namely the Mortar&Pestle II sneakers and Mountain Warrior sneakers.
The pattern in Mortar & Pestle II emphasizes the tradition of preparing rice grains. They use mortar and pestle made of wood to remove the husks of rice grains.
The red/navy blue fabric with stripes is inspired by the designs of the Paracelis-Gaddang tribe in Mountain Province. Red is the color of life and strength. So we used it for our Mountain Warrior sneakers design.
See the intricate handiwork of our weavers for a particular design.
A single weave project takes at least 6 months to finish. Handwoven fabric is our version of the Slow Food Movement to #fastfashion.
Most of the weavers are women who come from the different tribes in the region. Easter Weaving is one of the many organizations that support weaving communities in the Cordillera Region. This keeps the tradition of weaving alive and relevant to the present generation.
Why do we support the weaving culture of indigenous peoples?
We at DeCarbonize recognize the importance of preserving cultural traditions all over the world. We go back to the time when human habits were in harmony with nature. Our indigenous people weaving tradition has preserved this harmonious relationship between man and nature. Traditional fabric is made from spools of thread from natural fibers which is then dyed from natural colors of plants. Most tribes even consider weaving a way to communicate with higher beings according to their religious belief. We recognize the importance of weaving as a reminder that humans are in fact natural guardians of the environment.