Made in Florence and produced only once in each colorway, Mai Cojuangco’s latest Demetria drop features four thoughtfully constructed bag styles.
On the eve of the label’s two-day trunk show, designer and creative director Mai Cojuangco invites me to dinner at the home of the family matriarch she calls Lola Demetria. It’s also Mai’s middle name and the name of her daughter, Demetria Antonia, known as Demi.
Over dinner, Mai mentions that her daughter is already considering where to go for college. This comes as a surprise to me. In one photograph from the brand’s press kit, Mai carries a little girl in her arms. She laughs when I point it out. The picture was taken in 2017, the year she established Demetria.
By then, Mai had already spent nearly two decades in Florence. She moved there in 1999 after studying psychology in Manila, going on to study fashion at Polimoda before specializing in handbag construction and leather. Florence remains home to Mai and Demi, as well as the base of Demetria today.
Motherhood was central when Lifestyle Asia featured Mai on its September 2022 cover. Four years later, the child in the photograph is looking toward college, while the label bearing their shared name approaches its first decade.
The passage of time feels especially fitting for a brand that doesn’t design around seasons. Demetria releases its bags in limited drops when they are ready, with only one produced in each color or color combination. Each is made by a small team in Florence using locally sourced materials and custom accessories. If the name carries a family history, the pieces made under it are intended to acquire histories of their own.
“Almost a decade after Demetria was established, we are opening our doors again,” Mai says. “Not to present a reinvention of Demetria, but the clearest expression yet of what I have been trying to build all along.”
READ ALSO: Mai Mai Cojuangco on Why Carving Out Time With Family Is the Luxury She Longs for the Most
Explore The Latest Demetria Bags
The latest Demetria drop comprises 44 individual bags across four silhouettes. Rather than producing multiples of every variation, the label made only one piece in each color or color combination. Once a particular bag is purchased, that precise version is no longer part of the available collection.
This limited approach gives familiar designs room to evolve. The drop brings back Demetria’s original Sempre alongside a smaller interpretation, the Semprina, while the Bloom introduces individually selected vintage textiles and the Monette answers the need for something compact.
Explore the latest bag collection of Demetria.
The Demetria trunk show runs from September 8 to 9, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 11 Palm Avenue, Makati. For more information visit www.demetria.co.
Photos courtesy of Demetria
Frequently Asked Questions
Demetria is a Florence-based handbag label established by designer and creative director Mai Cojuangco in 2017. The brand creates seasonless bags in limited drops.
Demetria is the name of Mai Cojuangco’s grandmother, her own middle name, and the name of her daughter, Demetria Antonia, known as Demi.
Demetria bags are made by a small team in Florence using locally sourced materials and custom accessories.
The latest drop features four styles: the spacious Sempre, the medium-sized Semprina, the vintage foulard-detailed Bloom, and the Monette clutch and crossbody bag.
The latest Demetria drop comprises 44 individual bags. Only one piece was produced in each color or color combination, making every available variation distinct.
