Albularyo
Category: Footwear
Competitions: International
As someone who grew up in the province, people who couldn’t afford doctors seek help from albularyos or herbalists. Besides the healing properties of these herbal plants, it can also produce natural colors for dyeing when soaked in hot water. These herbal plants will be used to dye the piña fabric as this is the known textile that is being produced by my country and I wanted to bring our products into the center stage with much pride and love. By adding the sampaguita flower embroidery to my piña fabric it perfectly describes my work— simple but strong. I used abaca as the shoelace as it is one of the primary agricultural produce of my country, it is one of the strongest natural fibers known, I added pearls to represent the Pearl of the Orient Seas. I also wanted to bring back bakya, our country’s traditional footwear, by adding it as the base and foundation for the whole structure of the shoes. I was inspired to make the heels into a bamboo design as it is commonly used for floors and ceilings of bahay kubos and I wanted to translate that into durability and resistance to harsh weathers. I wanted to produce a footwear that is inspired by my beloved country and with using organic materials along the process.
