54
in the
workshop...
“We believe that we are partners
with our artisans… their success
is ours and ours is theirs. No one
should be left behind”
Cera, and I am grateful to
see his creative process,
and see the products
evolve from ideas to actual
products.
Who has been your
most unexpected style
advocate for R2R?
Well, Amal Alamuddin
Clooney was spotted
wearing one of our
necklaces last year. That was
a pleasant surprise!
Wow, that’s awesome!
Who else would you like
to see wearing R2R
—
and why?
I would love to see Emma
Watson, Jessica Alba,
Sheryl Sandberg and
Angelina Jolie wear R2R.
These are all powerful
women who stand for
amazing causes.
What’s the story behind
your stated belief that
“If it’s not inclusive, it’s
not progress”?
I think we have been led
to believe that progress
means that we sacrifice
resources, the environment
and people. When I
was writing one of the
earliest copies of the R2R
manifesto, I thought of our
values as a company, why
we started, and why we are
doing what we are doing.
One of our values is
“community” — we believe
that we are partners with
our artisans, not some
awesome benefactor
helping poor beneficiaries.
Because we are partners,
their success is ours and
ours is theirs. No one
should be left behind or
forgotten. Thus, if it’s not
inclusive, we don’t consider
it progress.
Apart from the social
and economic impact of
R2R, what inspires you
to keep doing what you
are doing?
The individual stories of
the artisans, and how they
are making bold moves to
lift themselves and their
families out of poverty.
How else can people
support R2R aside from
buying your products?
Being an advocate is the best
way to support us. Share our
story and our artisans’ stories
to your friends and to the
world.
@
GET SOME RAGS
SEE AND SHOP THE
LATEST COLLECTION AT
RAGS2RICHES.PH
Clockwise: Each R2R product
comes with a tag signed by the
artisan who made it; the Jake
and Andrea bags
