Knots for a cause

“Knots! Why not?” exclaimed bag designer Amina Aranaz-Alunan when inspiration hit while she was reading a book about knotting. At the time, Alunan was in the process of conceptualizing her holiday 2012 collection for the social enterprise brand Rags2Riches, whom the designer has been collaborating with since 2009. Her collection, Nudos (the Spanish word for knots), interprets the traditional knotting and braiding techniques and brings them to vivid being in three accessory and five bag designs. “The collection is all about celebrating the art of knotting,” says Alunan. Scrap cloth, organic materials and indigenous fabrics are primary materials that have beem used in all of R2R’s creations through the years, consistent to its thrust of "eco-ethical" fashion. “Knotting allowed me to explore the many ways to play with the scrap fabric,” Alunan adds. Rags2Riches president and founding partner Reese Fernandez-Ruiz says that though their designers work with similar materials every year, they are still able to come up with incomparable products each time. “Every collection always feel like a first time because of the new techniques and designs our designer share with us," she says. "We love the creative process and the process of giving birth to new eco-ethical masterpieces.” Aranaz-Alunan and Rags2Riches also share the principle of involving the workers, who are women living in poor communities, in the design process. “They are very much involved during the product development stage," says Alunan. "I give [them] the designs and they try to interpret it in their own way.” According to its website, Rags2Riches provides women in poor communities with access to the free market and skills training to "maximize their career potential and take steps towards long-term financial and personal well-being." “To empower the women, it has always been our process that our workers co-design,” says Ruiz. — BM, GMA News The Nudos Collection is available at all Aranaz boutiques and Rags2Riches partner outlets. It will also be available online within October at www.Rags2Riches.ph. Photos courtesy of Rags2Riches