Jun Escario: Why it’s better to stay in the Philippines than go international

May it be for greener pastures, escaping corruption or both, many Filipinos have been dreaming to move abroad or, for brands, to go international.

But for Cebuano designer Jun Escario, one does not have to leave local shores to be global.

“After 30 years in the industry, I’ve tried several times (to bring my brand abroad),” Escario admitted in an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE.

“I was in Lane Crawford before in Hong Kong. I was selling pieces there. We also tried KL (Kuala Lumpur) before,” he said.

The cost and practicality of bringing his brand internationally, however, far exceed the benefits.

“But for me, the distance and the packaging and then… the sales, getting it back, I mean like 60 days, 90 days. It’s so tagal (time-consuming)! So I said, you know what, we can still do this even if we’re in the Philippines, rather than waiting for checks that are super tagal. So eventually, we just stopped and just concentrated here.”

Marketing just for Filipinos, even abroad, is enough for Jun and his brand to get by. According to him, whenever his works are showcased abroad, it is Filipinos who are also more supportive than foreigners, so he did not see a need to tap foreign markets.

For many years, the bread and butter of Escario’s fashion house has been corporate uniforms — everyday wear that is far from his glamorous reputation as a Cebuano master couturier.

But by opening a boutique space in the Filipino design collective BRGY in One Corporate Plaza, Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City, Escario has been able to tick off an item from his bucket list: to showcase one-off, ready-to-wear, day-to-night clothes with no more copies or sizes.

“I’ve been ready to venture into RTWs for quite some time, so this is my first collection in a couple of years,” Escario told DAILY TRIBUNE at the recent opening of BRGY.

“They’re mostly free sizes, so it’s either you get it or not, (the collection) all (comes in only) one piece (for every design),” he giggled.

He said he does not have a specific theme or collection name in mind and just puts out his one-off creations at BRGY at random.

“I have like Filipiniana, evening wear. It’s just it’s just a hodgepodge of different personalities. It’s like barangay.”

It has been his dream, he said, to come out with “one-piece only” designs through BRGY.

“It has always been a plan, but we just can’t find the right space,” he shared. “In Rockwell, I’ve been on a waiting list for the longest time, and then an opportunity came, I was just talking with friends, you know, and might as well just open something. It may not be like out in the mall, but we’re just experimenting anyway.”

Although still waiting for a space for his couture boutique, Jun has finally opened another venture in Joya South in Rockwell Makati called Bahay Tahi (House of Textile).

“We have so many excess tela (fabrics), like thousands of excess telas, because we do a lot of (uniforms for), like, casinos, different resorts here and abroad… So we thought of might as well just make use of those fabrics and then make it into corporate wear… and then we added, like, local fabrics.”

According to Jun, they had the excess fabrics rewoven into new textiles and then incorporated indigenous textiles into the designs. Even in small details, like buttons, Jun used sustainable materials like corals.

“We do a lot of weaving, but our weaving is not the typical weaves,” he stressed, “It’s so easy to say that nowadays, ‘Oh, our brand is different,’ but our brand really is different because instead of like super print, we made it very plain... Accent prints are inside the pocket so it’s ethnic but it’s not like print ethnic. Super timeless… You can wear not only in office but on and off.”

Many brands — both local and international — have come and gone, but Escario is proof that you can find success even if you stay just where you are.

“Do you really have to move out?” he questioned many Filipinos’ migration mentality.

“Para kaming nurse na nag-stay na lang sa Pilipinas (We, designers, are like nurses who decided to stay in the Philippines),” he quipped.

“I think, having the drive and just be contented,” he said on what he thinks makes him successful — proudly mostly locally — for three decades and counting. “You just have to go on and to like reinvent yourself. Especially now, you just can’t be left behind.”