“Nothing can connect you quite so gently to our shared humanity as working together with our hands.”
“For us, time is the ultimate luxury,” said internationally-renowned accessories designer Bea Valdes, reflecting on her definition of Philippine luxury during the pilot episode of Infinite Legacies, a new TV documentary series produced by Smart Infinity, Smart Communications, Inc.’s luxury postpaid brand.
READ ALSO: Bea Valdes Lives A Meaningful Life Through Her Beautiful Masterpieces
This is the luxury found in Slow Fashion that Valdes embraces wholeheartedly in her creations.
“Slow fashion is where your ethics and your aesthetics can unite,” she explained. “Making things that are so durable that they have long-term engaging values. It’s this concept of things that are not thrown away, things that are heirlooms, and passed down from generation to generation. It is the time we were able to lavish on a single piece, the care and devotion, and the bead work.”
Valdes’s bags and fashion accessories are all testament to the masterful use of time and the skill of the artisans who pour their attention into crafting the intricate details of each piece. It’s no wonder her accessories are beloved by the international fashion media and highly coveted the world over.
Craft and fashion
Born in a home resplendent with beautiful things, it seems almost natural that Valdes would grow into the accessories designer that she is today. She tells the story of how her grandmother’s 14-seater mantel made of pinya, intricately embroidered by a group of women for months, inspired her.
It was such a beautiful and poignant concept that she aspired to recreate this unhurried and mindful process in her own design and creations. Little did she know how this fast-paced world would wholeheartedly embrace her work and give her the recognition that she did not expect but deserve.
Her bespoke pieces, made for specific clients, took the international fashion scene by surprise. People could not believe that these luxury items actually came from the Philippines and were made by Filipino artisans.
“At this point, I feel like I am actively participating and contributing and actually sharing my craft with many more people. And that is quite meaningful,” Valdes shared.
Infinite possibilities
“Nothing can connect you quite so gently to our shared humanity as working together with our hands,” Valdes mused on the story of craft. Just the idea of seeing what you make as part of a larger context, looking at who makes it, and how this is made, and why this is made is already a lot to think about.
“I think when we start to answer those questions through designs,” she continued. “Then we will make sure that we are finding the correct solutions and the correct pieces to answer what we need in today’s world.”
This mindful approach to fashion and Valdes’s company values align with Circulo, a Manila-based design and strategy studio that promotes the awareness and education of a circular economy. A circular economy, simply put, is about ensuring sustainability by reducing waste and by using and reusing environmentally friendly fashion and design materials.
Valdes advocates what Circulo stands for and pursues, which is “To bend the line [of linear economy] to make it circular,” as Carlo Delantar, the lead for Circulo explained it. “The founding principles of a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.”
With the majority of the world still in a linear economy wherein the supplier takes, makes, and disposes, while the consumer buys, uses, and disposes, Valdes’s company is an outlier, and a successful one at that. By the very DNA of her design ethos and relationship with the luxury of time, her items are geared towards durability and long-term emotional value.
Valdes is grateful to have Smart Infinity championing her advocacy. Beyond being a brand ambassador, she loves the opportunity to be a Changemaker. “I think some of the things that we are really looking forward to is Smart Infinity sponsoring some of the talks we are doing with Circulo to begin the conversation on the circular economy in the lens of fashion,” said Valdes.
They will also touch on what different communities can do to participate, what it means to focus on materials, how to apply the circular economy principles to their supply chain, and how to collaborate with other like-minded individuals or changemakers.
“The legacy that we would like to leave is really about this conversation on craft, and on slow design,” Valdes said. “We believe the things that you make reflect the things that you value, and it is imperative that this work of the hands continue because they really speak to a greater humanity.”
The Infinite Legacies docu series by Smart Infinity puts a spotlight on principled, passionate, and purpose-driven Filipino changemakers who are making a positive impact in society as the embodiment of the Smart Infinity lifestyle.
Catch the next episode of Infinite Legacies on April 24 at Cignal featuring Len Cabili.
