When we come across products produced by a social business enterprise, we find the whole process admirable, but the word “stylish” rarely comes to mind in describing the items. However, when I attended my first Rags2Riches launch last month, its latest home collection changed my perspective. The wonderful thing about the company is that it forms partnerships across the country with local artisans to bring us eco-ethical accessories created from scrap material like overstock indigenous fabrics and cloth.
Years ago, the company started this partnership with mothers from the depressed area of Payatas. Today, it has extended such opportunities beyond this community. Rags2Riches (R2R) has been around since 2007 but R2R Living was only introduced just a couple of years ago. Since its debut in 2014, the brand has been attracting an increasing number of homeowners who share the same passion for sustainable and chic home decorations for their personal spaces.
No wonder, for aside from its in-house designers, the brand has been collaborating with inspiring icons such as Amina Aranaz-Alunan and Rajo Laurel for its fashion collections. A line for the home was designed with French-Filipino artist and designer Olivia d’Aboville. The brand continues its commitment to inspire people with handcrafted and beautiful pieces by brainstorming with interior stylist Marilen Faustino-Montenegro. What traits do these various role models have in common that resulted in a collaboration with R2R?
According to the brand, it was the appreciation of artisanal and sustainable lifestyle products. It is their (the partners’) shared values and their genuine interest in becoming part of the Rags2Riches community, and the fact that these individuals share R2R’s mission to lift Filipino artisans out of poverty through design.
The R2R Living x Marilen.ph Collection
For almost a decade, Marilen Faustino-Montenegro has been designing homes and model units. What influenced her to take that next step of designing a line for R2R? She loved the purpose behind the brand and the versatility of its items. She shares, “I’ve always known R2R for their bags and I was pleased when I learned that they started doing home products. I immediately wanted to collaborate with them.”
The result turned out to be another beautiful exhibit of functional and charming pieces of woven floor planters, handmade poufs, hanging planters and Scandinavian-inspired distressed wood trays. “I have always been inspired by Scandinavian and French country design. I love the point where clean and simple meets rustic chic. I am also an advocate of organizing so I thought of coming out with functional home décor. I believe in good organizing accessories so the floor plant holders and trays are a must for this collection,” says the designer. She adds, “The color palette is composed of joyful hues like salmon pink and turquoise and complementing, conservative ones like grey and natural abaca. The salmon pink is my brand color and the turquoise complements it. I included the neutral colors for those who shy away from too much color so there is something for everyone.”
A True Partnership
Coming up with a collection with these designers is always a collaboration. The designer provides his or her initial ideas and the brand gives its recommendations on them. Once the design is finalized, they evaluate the skill sets needed. If new training is needed, the designer educates the artisans on how to create them. The production time depends on the intricacy of design. For the hanging planters in the Marilen collaboration, it takes around 13 hours to complete one product from producing the rope from scrap fabric to the finished macramé.
If you would like to include these eco-ethical home accessories to your home, the R2R Living accessories can be purchased through R2R stores in Glorietta 3, Rockwell Powerplant and The Podium. They can also be located inside Robinsons Department Store in Robinsons Magnolia. For the items from the collaboration with Marilen, try shopping via www.marilenstyles.com.
To learn more about Rags2Riches, visit http://rags2riches.ph. Check out facebook.com/rags2richesinc, instagram.com/rags2richesinc
and twitter.com/rags2richesinc.
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