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.”