IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE

To become a designer and have my name as a brand.” Farah Abu wrote those words in her yearbook over 20 years ago, when she was just a girl growing up in a small town in Iligan City. 

“We didn’t even have a mall!” she exclaims. Perhaps it was destiny manifesting itself early on, nudging Abu toward a statement-making future. Crafted from semi-precious stones, glass beads, feathers and shells, each piece is imbued with as much beauty as she can imagine.

Abu’s love affair with fashion and jewelry began with her mom, whom she considers one of her biggest style influences. As early as grade one, she would set aside outfits for different school events simply because “I did not want to repeat any of them,” she quips. Even sticker earrings given to her by her aunts caught her fancy. Being half Tausug, she was also captivated by the intricate details of her mom’s extensive Muslim jewelry collection. All these influences fueled her passion to create pieces that are not only beautiful but also allow women to see the same beauty in themselves.

It took a few more years before Abu saw her dream realized. She had moved to Manila to study Architecture at UST but soon found herself yearning for more creative pursuits. The rigidity and structure of the course felt too limiting for her artistic side. 

“If you take a look, there are no notes in my notebooks. It’s all sketches. I was always daydreaming,” Abu shares. Her trip home to Iligan after graduation marked a pivotal turning point in her life. A suggestion she made to a friend to try jewelry design sparked the same fascination in her. She made five charm bracelets just to give it a try, which she displayed at her family’s gas station. When they all sold in a day, Abu made more and became hooked, saying, “I felt limitless and free! I could design whatever color, shape, or size I wanted. I told my parents this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

A major feature in a national newspaper in 2005 played a significant role in getting Abu’s work noticed. “I sent them my pieces without even knowing if I would get them back,” she said. “They loved it and ran the story. When it was published, my phone was ringing off the hook.” She soon found herself working an 8-to-5 internship and then going home to fill orders until 3 a.m. to meet the demand. Her daily hustle included bringing a few pieces with her everywhere she went — including a full display in her car — offering them to friends who might be looking for a cute new accessory or two. Talk about being enterprising!

Abu soon realized it was time to put herself front and center by renaming the brand “Farah Abu.” She saw this as an opportunity to take full ownership of her work and what it represented. The full impact of this was underscored by unexpected feedback she received: that her earrings “gave this person an allergy.” It was a wake-up call for Abu to stop compromising on cost. She switched to using only premium materials, especially for the hardware, selecting the best quality she could find. “As my husband, Ross, always reminds me, feedback is a gift,” Abu shared. “I am grateful to whoever that person was because it pushed me to deliver the best for my Farah Abu queens.”

This shift in perspective raised Abu’s standard, driving her to produce nothing less than perfect. “I want to think 10 steps ahead,” she explains. “How does it look from all sides? I want people to be happy with what they bring home.” It was at that point that she introduced the idea of designing earrings that could be taken apart and worn in different ways. With the higher price point, Abu was inspired to create something truly special and versatile for clients who were buying her earrings not only to wear but also to collect.

With the rebranding, Abu realigned the brand ethos to reflect her view on life: “To make things beautiful and make beautiful things.” “It is the sweet spot between innovating and reimagining, and then making something new from scratch,” she points out. As a self-taught accessories designer, the intricacy of her designs and work has evolved as she continued to create and develop her aesthetic. From feathers and shells to semi-precious stones and flowers, each statement piece is a work of art. And because each one is meticulously handmade — often taking at least a day to finish just one pair — no two are exactly alike. If there is one thing Abu promises herself with each new season, it is that “my rule will always be that my next collection has to be better than my last.”

The next few months will be more than eventful for Abu, as her designs will be featured in trade exhibitions and fairs both here and abroad. She will debut her latest collection at the ArteFino Fair at Powerplant Mall from 22 to 25 August, followed by the MaArte Fair at The Peninsula from 29 August to 1 September. After that, she jets off to Tokyo for two trade fairs: the Tokyo International Gift Show from 4 to 26 September and FinoPinas from 2 to 15 September in Roppongi. In October, Abu will take part in Manila FAME, and in December, she will be at ArteFino Presentè. She is also part of an ongoing pop-up in Paris, alongside nine other local designers. Glancing at her schedule — and the combined stress and joy it brings — she proudly says, “It has long been my dream to showcase my pieces abroad. This is just the beginning. By next year, my designs will be everywhere.” With the trajectory Abu is on, it is all within her reach.

Truth be told, Abu’s journey as a designer feels like a plotline in a movie: hard work, perseverance, failure and then making her way back to the top of her game, and more. Of course, all while wearing fabulous accessories in every scene! The last 20 years spent navigating life as an accessories designer—drama, drudgery and all —have only fueled her desire to create and inspire even more. It’s a passion she continues to share with the Farah Abu queens who wear her designs, whether they’re statement earrings or the Gabriela armor. 

“A fashion accessory holds so much more power than anyone realizes,” Abu reminds us. “It transforms your outfit into a showstopper. You feel instantly beautiful and empowered…like you can do anything.” As she sees it, this is the first step in making the world stop and take notice: “No one forgets the girl in the statement earrings!” And that’s a fact.