From Iloilo, Jor-el Espina has successfully made a name in Manila, with sold-out collaborations with seasoned designers like Patis Tesoro, a well-received store at the recent ArteFino in Rockwell Makati and a triple treat partnership with DAILY TRIBUNE and Salcedo Auctions for last July’s “The Vanguards” exhibit and auction, where he showcased a 40-piece modern Filipiniana collection.

As a continuation of his 20th anniversary as a designer, Espina launched a new retail concept, BRGY, in One Corporate Plaza along Arnaiz Avenue in Makati City, together with his friends Ino Caluza of Viktor Jeans, Jerome Lorico and Jun Escario.

“I really wanted to have a concept store even before, so I was thinking of gathering friends to do a concept to like this,” he told DAILY TRIBUNE.

“We thought also of a name that is BRGY that’s because it’s the smallest unit in the Philippines and you can only hear that word in the Philippines. So it’s a community of creatives and design also.”

Faithful to his sari-sari store concept for his shop at BRGY, Espina debuted his new home accessories line at the store, in addition to his one-off pieces, to complete the shop’s sense of variety.

Among the pieces on display were stuffed roosters, a carabao chair and an accent chair sewn with gumamela (hibiscus) images. Like Jor-el’s ready-to-wear, which remains as the store’s centerpiece, these new additions to his brand are quirky and colorful — true to his design point of view of reflecting vibrant Filipino culture.

“Filipino design, for me, is something that is worth celebrating for,” he enthused.

Each designer in BRGY, he said, has a concept of what a Filipino celebration is and how it is celebrated.

“Like me, as you can see, my shop looks like a sari-sari store, it’s fun,” he chuckled.

From a mere supposed extension of his atelier, BRGY is now a design collective that Jor-el envisions would tour malls and exhibitions locally and abroad.

As he espoused, anywhere you might go — may it be in Iloilo, Manila or beyond, “You can always celebrate and you can always do Filipino in any way.” Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo