“It’s very important for me that works done by hand still exists,” was what Rita Nazareno, owner of Zacarias 1925, answered when asked about her motivation on leaving the U.S. and moving back to Manila to continue her family’s business.
In today’s world of machine and technology, it’s easy to dismiss hand weaving as old and outdated – especially when juxtaposed against modern styles. However, the past couple of years saw a revived appreciation for traditional products. Just simply browse through designer collections in fashion weeks, and you’ll see that the traditional hand-woven bags trend is taking center stage once more.
But for S.C. Vizcarra, hand weaving never left the stage. The craft has always been the mark of their company – tracing all the way back to 1925 when Rita’s great grandmother, Segunda Vizcarra, started the business from humble beginnings. And for the past 93 years, they’ve managed to continuously adapt to what their audience wants, all while keeping the strong S.C. Vizcarra legacy alive.
“I need to make sure that everything’s fun here because we’re a family, and we all like to take good laughs and enjoy doing what we do”
For Rita, her grandmother’s legacy is more than just the business. Continuing this legacy is one way to give back to their workers. “A lot of our workers have been here for many years. Their parents worked here, and now their children are following their footsteps,” she said.
In the ever-changing landscape of fashion and design, how then does Rita Nazareno’s Zacarias 1925, and S.C. Vizcarra, manage to thrive?
The answer lies in keeping the core of your business intact, but constantly changing and adding twists to her creations. Zacarias 1925 carries on the traditional craft of hand weaving, but it’s Rita’s eye for aesthetic and her eccentric taste that allows her to put a contemporary twist to the seemingly traditional craft of hand-woven bags and accessories.
Her design philosophy is simple: to create work that is fun. “I need to make sure that everything’s fun here because we’re a family, and we all like to take good laughs and enjoy doing what we do,” she said.
Apart from that, she takes inspirations from her many interests. Her designs reference a lot of contemporary art, architecture, travels, and cinema – so much so that she created a Star Wars collection a few years back.
She sees inspirations even in the mundane things like conversations in passing which led to creating a design that is based off of Excel sheets – a byproduct of a small comment she heard from her financial analyst friend based in the U.S. Where her friend saw a boring work of looking at an Excel sheet the whole day, Rita saw something cool and exciting and translated it to her design, and a challenge for her team.
“You can find inspiration literally anywhere, you just need to know where to look and have even just a tiny bit of humor in the way you see your world”
“I thought it was exciting – having to think of grid-like patterns and making them beautifully-textured but also quirky at the same time,” she recalled. Tasks like this also allow her workers to shine. Rita would tell her team the big idea, and together they’d brainstorm how to get it done. This Excel-inspired bag took three months of ideation and iteration – until finally, they turned it into a fine piece of handbag. “You can find inspiration literally anywhere, you just need to know where to look and have even just a tiny bit of humor in the way you see your world,” she quipped.
It is with her desire to continue her grandmother and mother’s legacy, value for her team, her curiosity for the world, quirky taste, and fun-loving nature that she’s able to continuously add a contemporary twist to hand weaving, and make every collection more and more exciting each time.
“There will always be that small number of people who will be appreciative of works done by hand. They value what comes in terms of design, skill, and labor,” she explained when asked if she sees the craft slowing down soon. “We’re not a mall brand; we’re a small company. But we have a fantastic market who advocate what we create not just for the sake of buying local, but in pursuit of well-designed and well-made products.”
