BONTOC, Mountain Province – The upcoming staging of Lang-ay Festival 2016 will feature the beauty of the ethnic fabrics in a bid to lure Igorots to wear and promote ethnic fashion.
Ethnic fashion show is one the events being featured and will be under the coordination of the Lang-ay Festival Organization, the provincial Office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Weavers Association in the province .
Ms. Julienne Paran, a known fashion designer of casual and formal wears, is tapped to help in the conduct of the event which is scheduled on the night of April 8, 2016 at the provincial plaza. She has already met with the organizers and weavers for the initial preparations.
Ten weavers around the province will banner their ethnic products to be showcased during the ethnic fashion show through the efforts of Three (3) models each representing children and adults.
Thirty (30) designs are earmarked to be showcased using the local fabrics and to be sewed by local entrepreneurs.
Juliet Lucas, Provincial Director of DTI, said that the objective of the event is to lead the fabric entrepreneurs to develop and promote the local fabrics, garments, and finish products, innovate on the usual, and help them market it.
“As time evolves, the weaving industry must persist to be vibrant and be ready to embrace changes through product diversification”, reads a statement from the DTI.
Further, the fashion show aims to further boost weaving production and marketing in the province, and showcase innovative designs by way of incorporating locally woven fabrics into other clothing materials, casual or formal wears such as office uniforms and corporate attires.
In the committee meeting last Friday, March 4, 2016, it was decided that local models will showcase the innovative designs by Ms. Paran.
Paulino Tumapang, Jr, Chairperson of the Lang-ay Festival Organization bats for local models to add prestige and familiarity taste to the public, knowing who the models are.
As assistance to the participating local business entrepreneurs, the Lang-ay Organization has provided financial assistance from the Lang-ay Fund to subsidize the conduct of the events at no cost to the local business people. However, the concerned local business people will provide the fabrics needed to be sewed as their counterparts.
The patterns will also be given to the dressmakers for free as guide and reference for orders from customers.
It was also learned that members of the Igorot Global Organization (IGO), who will be coming over for the International Igorot Conference (IIC) here and to participate in the Lang-ay Festival, will also be showcasing their indigenous wears. They will be the models themselves.
By Roger Sacyaten
