FASHION RECESSION

These past weeks had been very busy for me. I met up with a lot of old friends. Most have come home to Cebu after years of living and working outside the country. Others just visited Cebu for vacation. There was a lot of getting together, catching up on each other’s lives, and trying to reconnect threads of yester years.

I may have overbooked myself that I am now afflicted with a terrible flu. Thank goodness though that it’s not the H1N1 type, just the more common type which one gets whenever we lack sleep and rest. This is quite a price to pay for a fledging social butterfly.

Anyway, after countless get together, I noticed that whenever I meet friends with whom I have not seen for quite a while, there are 3 questions that I can now expect to be asked.

First question-----How are you? Usually this includes my family too.

Second question----How’s business?

And third but not least---How’s the recession affecting fashion?

There are of course variations to these questions, but the theme is pretty much the same.

I also used to give varied answers depending on my state of mind that day, but as this had been asked of me countless times, quite automatically I’ve been noticing myself ready with repeated answers. Answers which are pretty much like the pre-programmed responses on answering machines which I just hope none of my friends have noticed.

So, to spill the beans, here are the million dollar answers to these questions…..

Question number 1: How are you?

My answer to question number one largely depends on the breakfast I ate that day and of which side of the bed I woke up with.

The answer varies from “Okay, I’m doing well” to “I’m doing great”. Because I believe in positive thinking and of self-prophecy (one tends to act out what he or she earlier predicted or declared), I seldom give a negative answer.

There are days though when I really do feel terrible and in such rare instance, I would most likely just say “Okay ra”.

I believe that no matter how we feel or what our state of mind is, we still have a lot of blessings to be thankful for. It is just but right to focus on the positive rather than the negative.

Question number 2: How’s business?

Well, quite emphatically, I would answer that “Business is fine and only because of God’s grace” and that’s the undeniable truth.

Most business people veer away from the discussion of GOD. I once had been interviewed by a famous local business magazine and the writer who later became a very good friend of mine, once told me that she cannot put too much emphasis on GOD’s miracles in our business. As she is writing for a business magazine, she needs to write about clear and tangible business practices which led to our success.

While I know she and the magazine she works for, meant well. I cannot quite discount the fact, that apart from GOD, we really cannot do anything. Our company started really small, a measly sum of P200,000. This amount is really nothing considering that we put up a manufacturing company targeting the mid to high end market. At that time, no bank would grant us a loan as we have nothing to use as collateral.

That was 7 years ago and while the company is not immune to financial strains, to reach this far is a simple miracle. A grace and favor from GOD.

Now on the third question….

Question no. 3: How is the recession affecting fashion?

Well, this is a bit harder to answer.

For one, unlike food, shelter, or clothing, fashion accessories are definitely not on everyone’s priority list. In fact, this is usually at the bottommost.

For a fashion accessory company like ours, to maintain operations and grow sales when most companies are closing, is really a daunting task.

However it is good to keep in mind that while global economy might be depressed, the fashion accessory industry still remains to be a multi-billion business. While some companies and buyers may want to shift businesses at this time, a lot are actually sticking it out. A lot are riding the tide.

Quite amazingly, in our case, a few of our buyers have actually expanded their fashion accessory businesses.

What’s the secret? Well, I believe that the secret is no secret at all. The company who has expanded their business has gotten a good pulse of the business landscape. For fashion jewelry, it’s literally going back to basics. Classic, timeless, elegant, fashion items that doesn’t go out of style and those that offers great value for money are topping the chart.

This is the very same niche that our international brand IMPRESSIONE and local brand ARTIZANS have comfortably settled in for many years now.

I’ve been accused of shamelessly tooting our own horn when promoting our fashion jewelry line and yes, I agree that I do. We do however, walk our talk.

I am just thankful that we made a decision many years back to work on various themes as part of our design philosophy, one which includes the Classics as the biggest and most important among our design themes.

Not only do we develop designs that doesn’t go out of style, but we also make sure that we incorporate materials whose value by itself will certainly increase with the passage of time.

You will find a lot of IMPRESSIONE and ARTIZANS pieces infused with semi-precious stones, fresh water pearls, swarovski crystals and lots more.

ARTIZANS fashion accessory pieces may be had for a reasonable price. An earring for instance, would cost as little as P280 and already using these materials. I think that’s truly value for money!

So, how is the current global economic crisis affecting the fashion industry business?

I really cannot speak for the entire industry, but for the company I work for, it is good.

When most people are struggling to keep ends meet, it’s certainly unwise to invest in disposable fashion items. Classic jewelry pieces made of value added materials is the way to go.

If you are to shop for fashion jewelry as a fashion statement piece, a gift or simply to reward one self, I hope you can consider my 2-cents worth. Shop wisely everyone!

Organics for Life!

I told my husband, Jeff - aka my editor, that my well is running dry... I mean creative writing well, that is, not any other…

To an aspiring writer like me, this is something we all dread. Actually, it’s not that I lack the inspiration. On the contrary, I have lots that I just have too much mental clutter right now. So much has happened over the past 2 weeks. There are just several highlights but the topmost is the launching of our new line ARTIZANS Organics.

ARTIZANS Organics, is our company’s latest business unit with the purpose of promoting health and wellness by providing access to complimentary organic products that are healthful, accessible, affordable, and does not harm the environment.

What made us decide to go into this had been the result of years of our own personal battle with debilitating diseases as well as the GOD-given opportunities we have come across recently.

My closest friends know that our family had been an advocate of natural, organic products for several years now. The decision to go organic was propelled by several life changing events that our family had gone through over the past 10 years.

Both my husband and I are asthmatic. Mine actually started very early. As a baby, I had become a fixture in doctor’s clinics. There was a time when I just dreaded seeing people wearing white. For many years, they represented to me the nightmare trips and painful needles they would have to prick or attach to me. It was so traumatic that I remembered one incident where I absconded from the hospital. It was a long story and one I would never forget.

My husband’s allergic and asthmatic condition on the other hand, is adult-onset. His asthma started when he was in college, although the doctors believed that it might not had been diagnosed early. He would have frequent episodes of lung infections and as a result, just before reaching the age of 30, he was diagnosed of Bronchiectasis, a pulmonary disorder common only to old people.

And our 2 boys, well, the fruit couldn’t be too far from the tree. Much like their parents, they too are born allergic and asthmatic. I remembered countless sleepless nights. My heart breaks to pieces when my little ones couldn’t sleep of persistent coughing or of difficulty in breathing. I am just thankful to GOD for sending me an angel in the form of my very good friend and pediatrician—Dr. Ed Serafica who would not mind my calling or texting in the wee hours to consult about my children.

Our allergies are not just brought about by the food we take, but in everything we are exposed to---food, dusts, strong perfumes, chemicals from the products that we use etc. The allergic and asthmatic episodes are so severe that we avoid precipitating known allergies at any cost. Our game plan had always been prevention.

Two years ago my mom also passed away of the big C—Cancer. It started with her reproductive system, then to her lungs, then to her brain. A year before that, a young son of a very close doctor friend also passed away of a much rarer type of cancer. Such was a promising future snatched out of a young man by this merciless disease. This year, the father of another close friend also passed away of cancer.

Like allergies and asthma, cancer has gotten so common. Most people I know have a relative, a friend, or a friend of a friend who has had cancer. It makes us wonder why thirty to fifty years ago, cancer is not considered a common disease… but yet, it has gotten so prevalent, much like the common colds nowadays. What happened? What had caused this?

Like most families whose beloved succumbed to cancer, we did our own research in order to try to understand and hopefully find ways to prevent it from happening again.

Such was the beginning of our long journey of prevention, disease-management and making smart choices that affected our lives. Our own home-based researches which include several internet searches, reading various books and magazines, interactions with doctor friends and conversations with cancer survivors and known asthmatic friends, led us to discoveries and an understanding that we actually had the power in our hand to arm ourselves---our bodies, for this battle of a “life” time.

One vital lesson we learned was that good nutrition, drinking lots of water, getting enough sleep, stress management and exercise are still the hallmark of wellness and the most inexpensive at that.

Another was that, a lot of the products we take and use are actually doing more harm than good.

For instance, a lot of the soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body washes and other personal care products we buy promises long, soft, smooth, shiny, healthy hair and skin but fail to mention that certain side effects can be traced back to the harsh chemicals such as Sodium Laurel Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, and Parabens which they contain. These are controversial chemicals that are considered possible causes of cancer, skin irritations, allergies and neurotoxicity and others.

Pthalates, another common ingredient in shampoos is derived from naphthalene and which can cause congenital anomalies among developing infants…pregnant women please beware!

A quick internet search involving these chemicals would show you several studies that would make one very afraid. If you want to make a specific research on the toxicity level of the current brand you are using, may I suggest that you log on to www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

The problem is, a lot of people do not read the labels of the products they buy or if they do, most people do not take the time to understand what these chemicals are for and what the side effects are. Too often, we are smitten by the glossy and beautiful appearances of models endorsing the product which we see on print or on TV.

Another problem is that a lot of personal care products disguise themselves. Most products are so good at highlighting the good and toning down the bad.

A lot are actually labeled as organic, natural, botanicals, aromatherapy, aromacology and other similar sounding terms and yet, they still contain these harmful chemicals.

Hence, it is very important for consumers to read the label. What we should all aim for is to be rid of these chemicals while getting the benefit that Mother Nature had been providing us since the beginning of time. How I wish getting gugo shampoo straight from the gugo plant is as easy as it were many years back.

While I still adhere to home preparation and still maintain a few pots of aloe vera in my garden to mix with other fresh ingredients, it was such a relief to me when I discovered Human Heart Nature, one of the products that ARTIZANS Organics promotes and distributes.

Human Heart Nature was created by Ms. Anna Meloto-Wilk and Ms. Camille Meloto, the daughters of Gawad Kalinga founder, Mr. Tony Meloto.

Motivated by love of GOD and of the Philippines, the vision of Human Heart Nature was to create a line of products that has real health benefits without harming oneself and the environment, at a price that most can afford. You do not have to be rich in order to buy organic, natural products.

Human Heart Nature also consciously uses only Philippine-sourced and grown raw materials to support our local organic farmers. The future plan is to include the different Gawad Kalinga communities to grow these raw materials, as a viable livelihood program. These are values and advocacies that ARTIZANS Organics wholeheartedly support.

Human Heart Nature is a line of personal care products such as shampoos, conditioners, body washes, bug sprays that are sourced from organically grown Philippine raw materials. These do not contain harmful chemicals like the ones I mentioned earlier.

Instead of the strong detergent—Sodium laurel sulfate, Human Heart Nature uses Vegetable Glycerin, a more superior, more expensive yet more healthful alternative. Instead of Parabens as preservatives, Human Heart Nature uses natural preservatives such as Tocopheryl acetate or Vitamin E, royal jelly, honey and others. These are preservatives Mother Nature had been providing us for ages.

Human Heart Nature is a viable substitute to the current brands of personal care products that most people use. One example is a 50 ml Human Heart Nature shampoo which only costs P29.95. For the same budget, you now have a choice between a safe and beneficial Human Heart Nature product, or of other brand products which contain these harmful ingredients.

Most of us are skeptical about the quality and efficacy of the product when it is cheap. Cynics would say that if it’s too good to be true (price wise) it probably is. Well, what I can say is to challenge every one to just try. A shampoo for P29.95 doesn’t really hurt our pockets if in the end we are able to make better choices for ourselves. We challenge anyone with falling hair to at least try the strengthening, less hair fall shampoo for at least a week to see the difference.

It is good to keep in mind too that the main motivation in launching this product is to help people ----the recipient communities: Gawad Kalinga and our organic farmers and the users--- our own Filipino brothers and sisters who have less in life and are the very same ones who would not be able to afford costly medical treatments.

Personally, our family feels so in love from the results we got from using Human Heart Nature products that we decided to become one of the two super distributors in Cebu. While margins as super distributors is not at all lucrative in terms of money value, we feel that Human Heart Nature is an excellent product that all of us should have access to. This is largely an advocacy than business in the strictest sense.

As super distributor, this meant that ARTIZANS Organics takes care of the Cebu-wide distribution and can offer and extend the distributorship arrangement to anyone who is also interested.

To know more about the products, about this income opportunity as agents/distributor, or to place an order, please contact ARTIZANS Organics at (032) 5188343 or email organics@artizans.bz. Orders may be picked up from our office in Mandaue or from our drop-off/pick-up point at Ayala Center Cebu or door to door delivery for a small fee.

There are still other complimentary products that ARTIZANS Organics carries whose availability will soon be announced. Just like Human Heart Nature, these other products are well studied and chosen primarily for the health benefit it brings. Please watch out for announcements as soon as these products are available.

ARTIZANS Organics

Promoting Health
Nurturing Earth
Building the Nation
One Person at a time

To GOD we give all the glory!