In a collaboration between Kultura’s Crafts a Cause foundations and the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Gifts that Give Back celebrates Filipino craftsmanship and at the same time will raise funds to help the communities served by the Crafts for a Cause foundations.

Joel Escober, Dong Omaga-Diaz, Joyce Makitalo, Malou Romero and Amina Aranaz-Alunan

For this, FDCP designers worked with Crafts for a Cause foundations to create innovative pieces for the event: Maco Custodio with  Gkonomics, Joey Enriquez with Invisible Sisters, Gerry Sunga with Gifts and Graces, Amina Aranaz-Alunan with Isla Para sa Kaunlaran and Joyce Makitalo with Likha ni Inay and Gifts and Graces. Designers Malou Romero for Joanique, Happy Andrada, Joel Escober and Dong Omaga-Diaz are offering collections where part of the proceeds will go to the foundations.

Maco Custodio for GKonomics. Maco describes his work as “minimalist,” due to his industrial design background. “I like to play with lines and my work is very architectural,” he says.

Joey Enriquez designed footwear made by the women from the Invisible Sisters foundation

Joey Enriquez for Invisible Sisters. Joey Enriquez comes from a family that has been one of the most respected shoemakers in Marikina since the 1950s. In Kultura’s Gifts That Give Back, Joey designed footwear for the Invisible Sisters foundation, a social enterprise that teaches women from poor communities to crochet quality fashion products from plastic bags.

Gerry Sunga for Gifts & Graces. Gerry makes sure that the objects, structures, and woven mediums he creates must have “drama & visual impact to one's pointe du optique.” He believes that art should be both functional and wearable. His collaboration with Gifts and Graces will give the social enterprise a new design perspective, giving workers the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Maco Custodio has designed handbags using re-purposed foil packs

Joyce Makitalo for Likha ni Inay and Gifts and Graces. Jewelry designer Joyce Makitalo is known for her bold, almost talisman-inspired approach to necklaces, pendants, bangles and rings that echo the allure and enigma of civilizations past. Joyce’s chunky pieces highlight varied rough, irregularly shaped semi-precious stones that are cleverly set on brass and metals.

Through Crafts for a Cause, foundations are able to make their products accessible to a mainstream market and the increased demand for products naturally leads to more livelihood opportunities for members of adopted communities.