Events
THE WEAVING STORIES & DREAMS TOUR
Handmade indigenous fashion and home accessories from the Philippines will enjoy a rare spotlight when Los Angeles-based brand KINdom produces the Weaving Stories & Dreams Tour, coming to Los Angeles this May 10th-14th, 2024.
Indigenous Filipina artisans will be demonstrating their artisanal craft at the tour's stop during all the events. These talented makers will be presenting an alternative in a market dominated by fast fashion and major brands. Specifically, the ancient craft of weaving on backstrap looms is being celebrated after being disparaged for decades, with origin stories & folk tales told alongside them. Appearing on the tour are Evelinda Otong-Hamja, a weaver from the Yakan indigenous community; Myrna Pula, weaver & elder mother storyteller of the Tboli people; and Virgie Nicodemus, cultural worker & advocate of Philippine indigenous groups and crafts. The two former Nanay (Mother) artisans and culture bearers, Nanay Evelinda & Nanay Myrna, were recently featured in the April 2024 issue of Vogue Philippines.
KINdom designs the Tboli and Yakan textiles & ancient embellishment techniques into contemporary silhouettes. “We’re making ancient crafts new. We’re taking traditions of creating clothes that the Tboli, the Yakan and other indigenous communities have been using for hundreds of years and infusing it into something relevant for today,” Powers said. “Indigenous people, being stewards of the Earth for generations, have an intimate connection with their crafts that machinery or mass production doesn’t have. With the Weaving Stories & Dreams Tour, I want to show and develop a direct connection between the maker, the product and you, the consumer. As a Filipina, I don’t want these indigenous craftsmanship to disappear, as they are currently threatened with new a generation that would rather assimilate into modern society instead of learning & preserving age-old techniques. These cultural practices are the windows to our roots. I want my child and future generations to see and feel these ancient works, that they are alive and well. The Weaving Stories & Dreams tour is honoring our past through cultural appreciation & awareness.”
There are one-of-a-kind and limited edition handwoven, hand-embellished, and upcycled pieces from KINdom and the Tboli and Yakan artisans including jewelry, textiles, home wares and clothing such as dresses, tops, bottoms and contemporary jackets which will be shown at the Los Angeles events and available at the e-commerce boutique KINdomshop.com.
After stops in Hawaii, the San Francisco Bay Area, and San Diego, Weaving Stories & Dreams' successful run will end in the Los Angeles area. It will make a stop the Vegan Women's Summit at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood on May 10, and the Unique Markets at the California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles on May 11 to 12. There will be an additional intimate gathering for the artisans at the Meraki Creative Lounge in Eagle Rock on May 14.
Spearheaded by KINdom, Rag Royalty, and CulturAid, the Weaving Stories and Dreams Tour is a labor of love co-sponsored by the Vegan Women Summit, House of Gongs, Karayan, PASACAT, Creative Natives Hawaii, Waiwai Collective, Kularts, and Malaya Filipino-American Dance Arts.