“The ancient history is watching my lola (grandmother) run her factory when I was a kid, I grew up thinking ‘Oh my god, I want to be a designer,’” Martin shares.
It was because of his childhood memories with his grandmother that Martin found himself doing brand management for Rajo Laurel. He was closer to the childhood dream he’s had, but at the same time, he was also met with a realization.
“I love the clothes, but I felt like I didn’t have the designing and the creation aspect (in me). I saw how it comes so naturally to him (Rajo Laurel), to his peers, and to my friends who are designers. And I thought, maybe this isn’t for me,” Martin recalls.
From there, he found himself in different stints gaining as much experience as he could. He first moved as a writer and producer in YStyle. Then he ventured to Milkman Marketing, a boutique marketing consultancy he started with friends, that focuses on brand building.
This is followed by his stint at Sunnies where he worked as a copywriter, mastering the art of effective story telling. In hindsight, his shift towards brand building and communication was a good transition for his next big move: establishing Owa Sylvia.
As with almost everything, the pandemic has caused a major shift in his narrative. A few weeks into the lockdown last March 2020, he decided to pack it up and leave Sunnies stint after four years.
It was around that time when our healthcare system was severely overwhelmed, and there were shortages in medical supplies—PPEs, especially. Perhaps it was serendipitous how everything started: his grandmother, Sylvia Borja, lovingly called Owa by her grandchildren, made a PPE for one of Martin’s cousins who is a frontliner.
“My lola literally took the shower curtain from her house and made him a PPE. He would show up to work in this floral-printed PPE. Eventually, she made PPEs for all her children and grandkids. And then one day she said, ‘Maybe you should try to sell it.”
From there, everything went full circle for Martin, and he formed Owa Sylvia—from one floral print makeshift PPE to multiple PPEs to sweatshirts to dasters. His grandmother was in-charge of what she does best: craftsmanship and design while Martin does what he’s spent years honing: managing the brand. It was the perfect match.
Contrary to his previous brand works, Martin shared that there was no grand plan or strategy for Owa Sylvia as a brand. In fact, they did not expect how the brand grew organically with their waitlist stretching for up to six months. They have also amassed quite a sizable loyal community.
This isn’t really much of a surprise, though, because Sylvia Borja was a renowned couturier back in the day and is still armed with impeccable craftsmanship and eye for design until now.
But apart from this, Martin believes that one of the reasons why they have such a strong community is Owa’s fun and cranky personality. Seeing Owa in videos that can make you feel like she’s directly talking to you will remind you of the usual Sunday family get-togethers spent with grandmothers that Filipinos are all too familiar with.
Business aside, Martin enjoys building the brand Owa Sylvia because it’s one of his ways to spend more time with his grandmother.
“We get messages from people saying how much Owa reminds them of their own lola, and it really warms our hearts, he says. “I approach these things knowing that this isn’t going to last forever because my lola is already 88. When the time comes, at least I’ll have this to keep, of our times together. I’m enjoying it one day at a time. I think it’s a perfect storm, I’ll never feel this way again about work. It’s a lucky feeling,” Martin adds.
And while he has had quite an extensive experience when it comes to handling lifestyle brands, he mentioned that the experience of handling Owa Sylvia is entirely different and special because he’s making it for himself.
“There’s nobody telling me do this, do that, it’s literally anything goes. And we like to see anything that makes us laugh. Anything that we think is going be fun, we put it there. It’s just balancing what we sell (our product) because at the end of the day, you can’t have a brand without a product. That’s just simple.”
And their products are something they take pride in. Bringing in Owa’s over 50 years of experience, Martin owes a lot of the success of the brand to his lola’s expertise in her craft.
This Owa Sylvia expertise translates to craftsmanship, and this craftsmanship, in turn, translates to a product that is well-loved because of its design and quality. The long list of people who have had the patience to wait for almost half a year just to get a piece of garment made by Owa Sylvia herself can attest to this.
Martin stressed the importance of a good product in the success of Owa Sylvia. He believes that you need to start with perfecting your product and making people believe why your product is good first. The product needs to be strong enough to merit a community.
He added, “The brands I really respond to these days are the brands whose products I can clearly tell was made by them. Show us how you made this, show us why this is you, show us the benefits of your brand, and then think about the rest after.”
But in an age where aesthetic is becoming the top priority, Martin’s tip is to be wary of sameness. “It’s best to have a look and a brand tone from the start, but there’s a lot of sameness out there, like when you look at something and you already know the inspiration behind it. Focus on your products first and build around the strength of it.”
At the end of the day, Martin believes in the basic: the product will speak for itself and bring out the brand’s success.
Photographer — Zaldine Alvaro
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