This year’s ArteFino Fair reimagines Filipino culture, tradition and heritage through a contemporary lens. 

When its founders Maritess Pineda, Mita Rufino, Susie Quiros, Cedie Lopez-Vargas and Marimel Francisco thought of the movement in 2017, placing homegrown brands had to be its front and center. It has always been, seven years later. 

Treasuring creativity and inspired passion has always served as ArteFino’s foundation, a launch pad for proudly made local pieces. 

Some of the participating brands for this year’s edition recently graced DAILY TRIBUNE’s PAIRFECT show hosted by Dinah S. Ventura to discuss Filipino creativity and why they find a sense of purpose in valuing and preserving our heritage.

Skeeter Labastilla-Turgut on Pinas Sadya

“Pinas Sadya is a celebration of pride and joy of being a Filipino. I created the brand based on my personal journey, in my 40s. I founded this in the pandemic. I started traveling within and knowing myself. It’s really about just the joy of being authentic, the unique you. There’s only one you in the world. Nag-iisa, walang katulad (Singular, incomparable). Pinasadya (Made to order).

“It also means ‘Pinas’ for Philippines and, of course, ‘sadya’ for intent and joy because I’m Bisaya. In Bisaya, ‘sadya’ means joy. It’s the joyful gift-giving of unique curated things that are meant for you. My pieces are the pieces that you can’t find anywhere. I only make a small batch production of each design, so five maximum, seven for each.

“When I travel, I collect fabrics. It just grew, and I thought why don’t I just create something that we can wear? It started from that, the need for us to really strongly set the bar in saying we are world-class, our talent, expertise and artistry. We just have to claim it and keep on doing it. My pieces are just what you can wear every day. It’s not just Lingo ng Wika, SONA or kasal (wedding). You can wear them every day.”  

on ArteFino

“It’s a great opportunity what the ArteFino platform has done. They’re really embracing this community of bringing together brands who believe in the same call for keeping our heritage alive. 

“It’s a community of creatives and supporters, just people living and keeping our heritage alive. There will be almost 100 brands. Be part of the growing community.” 

Che Scillano on Dwellbeing

“Dwellbeing is a combination of “dwell,” your dwelling place, and “well-being,” which is your health. We are a social enterprise, upcycling products. Mga tinapon (Discarded things). We collect them and turn them into something nice and functional for your home. 

“Our second one is empower. Every Dwellbeing piece represents a community. We partner with communities as a source of their livelihood to produce our items. We run on a 100 percent deaf team. Even our selling staff are deaf. 

“Last pillar is giving back. A percentage of our gross sales, every purchase that is made, a family meal is donated to Project Pearls, an NGO based in Tondo. Eating pagpag (food thrown from restaurants) is their way of life. Project Pearls set up a soup kitchen and every day they provide meals for these families. 

“Dwellbeing is two and a half years old, so (it was born during the) pandemic. From personal care, which is the liquid soap, we have body wash, healing bomb, bath soap. We will launch the shampoo bar in ArteFino.

first-time with ArteFino

“This is the future. What ArteFino is doing is a platform to announce to everyone what Filipinos can do. In a world where there are a lot of goods, we stand with ArteFino as one voice to showcase what we can do. Filipino is world-class. The work behind every product that you will see in ArteFino, hindi lang tipong tinahi (not just something sewn together), sometimes you have to work with communities kasi (because) you want to provide opportunities. In order to reach that, you have to go through logistics and that will entail costs.

“If you got inspired by our story, there’s more in ArteFino. We just represent a small population. “ 

Bengt Enrique and Em Adizas on Esmerie Studios

“There are two of us in the brand. We started the brand back in 2020. Back then, we were just doing made-to-order for clients, but after a while, we decided to push for ready-to-wear. We really wanted to highlight the traditional fabrics of the Philippines. For this first collection of ours for Artefino, we wanted to put the spotlight on piña material. We transformed the piña into contemporary pieces for the modern maginoo (gentleman).”

Experience with ArteFino

For this year’s ArteFino, we will be focusing on menswear. That’s our entry point to ArteFino because we noticed before that there weren’t many contemporary men’s pieces available. We’re also planning on introducing womenswear by next year.

“With ArteFino, they help us establish our brand identity. The brand DNA is very important. I think new designers really need to figure out their identity and aesthetic as a designer. Well, maybe not necessarily from the start, because it takes time to develop. When we started, we didn’t have a clear identity either. But along the way, you figure out what you like, and once you find what works, that’s where you focus.”

Stephany Verano on Steph Verano

“The brand is a bit more experimental, but with ArteFino, like talking with clients and seeing what people actually buy, it was a good design experience to try to merge the artsy side with the more business-oriented aspects of clothing. I achieved a more practical balance after joining ArteFino.”

Experience with ArteFino

“This will be my third year joining ArteFino. I had a hard time at the beginning of the brand, struggling to really find what people wanted and what I could showcase. Being with Artefino helped me find the sweet spot where I could do what I wanted.”

“ArteFino offers brands the reach to connect with people who genuinely appreciate different styles, including wearable styles, unusual styles, and a mix of both, but all with an appreciation for the craft.”