BEHIND THE THREAD

April 23, 2013; Savar, Bangladesh; Rana Plaza Factory Collapse; Photograph from Shutterstock

     April 23, 2013, was when 1,138 people lost their lives and 2,500 got injured in Rana Plaza Factory in Bangladesh – the home of almost 5,000 garment factories that manufacture for companies in the fast fashion industry. Sadly, this was not the first mishap in a garment factory in Bangladesh. These unfortunate events opened the eyes of many to unsafe and unfair working conditions brought by large corporations. Fast fashion is a hundred-billion-dollar industry that runs through many unethical practices that we don't notice but are reflected on the prices of the clothing that we buy. The clothes that are sold for low prices are most likely made by seamstresses working in slave labor conditions. They are women and men who are exploited, silenced, and undervalued with only a few pesos a month just so consumers can save a few pesos on a shirt. This 2013 tragedy served as a wake-up call. It motivated a movement demanding the fashion industry to uphold a more ethical, transparent, and fair environment that allows us, the consumers, to ask our favorite brands, "Who made my clothes?" That said, we, in Namnama, believe in a transparent and fair supply chain and using fashion as a force for good. It'll be our joy to share with you the people we work with whom we so dearly cherish and love.  

    Resilient Apparel is our exclusive clothing manufacturing place. It is a family-owned business by Joseph Geocado, the father of one of our co-founders. Located in Imus, Cavite, they take on their employees from their hometown, Beguin, Bulan, Sorsogon. It is a company that started with the owner himself and his wife, which eventually grew to what it is today. It is a company whose goal is to empower people from Bulan and help them get access to work. They provide a place for them to stay, as well as food for their everyday lives. They treat each other as family or "kababayans," as what they call themselves. 

    Since it is a family-friend-owned place, we get to set the standards and control the quality of each garment from start to finish. We are also able to build good relationships with the people who make the Namnama clothes. We currently have five people involved in making your Namnama pieces: Kuya Christian, Kuya Joshua, Kuya Omer, Ate Ote, and Ate Thess. These people are the key to making the Namnama dream happen; there wouldn't be Namnama today without them. Each Namnama piece is distributed according to the strengths of each mananahi.

    The production of each piece of clothing starts with the three founders, Steph, Joy, and Jan, designing and finalizing it. When we get our textiles, fabrics, and trimmings all gathered up, we start with the sampling process that usually takes a month and a half. To make sure that each garment and order is made, Joy oversees everything from start to finish. She works along with Kuya Christian, our master cutter and pattern-maker, who also helps with brainstorming on how each garment would come to life. He is so easy to work with and has a heart for learning. We get to bond with him a lot since sometimes, we help him with the cutting. We learned that he loves to read about Elon Musk and dreams about making his own car someday.  

    Kuya Joshua is our very first mananahi, who made most of the Laga Collection. He is our master sewer and makes all the sampling for our Namnama pieces. He is one of the OG workers of the Resilient Apparel and has been at the company for seven years now. Kuya Joshua makes sure that each of the clothing is of the best quality, that's why we trust him on that. He has a 10-month-old baby boy named Sean Matthew and loves to talk to his family during his resting time. One of his dreams is to establish his own sewing company. 
 

     Kuya Omer is our second mananahi, we got him when Kuya Joshua went back to Bicol for a vacation. Since he is as good as Kuya Joshua, we got him to make the incoming orders, as well as some samples for the Abra Collection and have been sewing pieces like the Maya, Lana, Amman, and Katha. It is also his dream to start his own business and go to Boracay someday. 

     Ate Ote and Ate Thess are sisters and they have been sewing since 1985. This has been their source of income ever since and are really trained in their craft. Ate Ote, together with his husband, Kuya Dario do the Abel, Bulan and Dion pieces. They actually met each other at the place where they started sewing. We love hearing their stories about where they used to work and their probinsya life. They usually turn off their electric fan while working and just work with just the window open and feeling the fresh air. Random facts about them: they love to listen to Raffy Tulfo's youtube videos while working. 

     On the other hand, Ate Thess, the mother of our co-founder, handles the Haliya and some Laga collection pieces. She loves to sew and has been doing so for many years now. Before being a sewer she was a trimmer at first and eventually got promoted to being a sewer in 1986. One of her most favorite things to do in her free time is shop kitchen tools or just browse through Facebook. She also loves watching youtube videos while working and calling her friends and talking to them. 

    These people are all dear to our hearts. They are the people who work incredibly hard every day to make the Namnama pieces together. Without them, our brand wouldn't exist. We make sure that we work in a place that makes sure that the laborers are taken care of and have fair and safe working conditions. It is time to be aware and demand changes to your favorite brands and ask for the story of how your clothes are made. We support the movement #WHOMADEMYCLOTHES, and we urge other brands to do the same.