BAYO, best known for its fashionable Filipino-made apparel, has, since nearly the start of the year, been producing products for the greater good and has been working with weavers, government units, and private companies to support local initiatives.

It has also stopped manufacturing its regular merchandise and instead shifted to designing fashionable and functional wardrobes inspired by personal protective equipment (PPE). It has also strengthened its online presence to reach its consumers.

Bayo has been a member of Power Fashion, Inc. (PFI) together with brands Unica and Viseversa, since 2014. PFI established a local manufacturing facility that initially produced 90-95% of the retail brand’s requirements. Today, Bayo operates as a brand that is 100% made in the Philippines with a goal to expand and double production output by 2021.

Bayo has spent the past months of this very challenging year finding ways to reach out to Filipinos through what it does best. At the beginning of the year, when Taal volcano erupted, the company stopped its production for a week to focus on manufacturing masks for the victims. Commissioned by DOST-PTRI (Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Textile Research Institute) to address the issue of industrial waste caused by the disposable masks, the brand made a prototype for face masks. The REwear face mask is made with material handmade by local fashion makers, and can be used up to 50 times with its PTRI Textile-Coating technology. Bayo took on the task of creating 250,000 pieces of this mask at a reasonable cost for distribution to various government agencies.

In March, BAYO opened its manufacturing facility to assist in the preparation of PPE coveralls for the programs of the Office of the Vice President (OVP). The Bayo Foundation subsidized the cost of making the PPE and the OVP covered the actual cost of labor paid to workers. Through this, Bayo was able to deliver 12,228 PPEs which were distributed to hospitals all over the Philippines and in return was able to sustain the livelihood of its employees. The project with the OVP led BAYO to pivot its business, dedicating its services to help in providing masks and PPEs, and even job opportunities to more people.

The Bayo Foundation also mobilized livelihood programs in partnership with the Local Government Unit of Pasig City. Working with five barangays, the group provided sewing projects to skilled sewers, providing additional jobs to those who have been out of work since the lockdown. Not only did this program enable them to manufacture more PPE coveralls and create 100,000 face masks, this effort also generated additional income enough to feed over 250 family members throughout this period.

Outside Metro Manila, The Bayo Foundation continues its program with the handweavers of Ambension — a social enterprise located inside the Enchanted farm of the Gawad Kalinga community in Bulacan. The handweavers of Ambension use production offcuts or retasos in their weaving patterns. After providing additional looms to increase the production of the community, the company, through the Bayo Foundation, is set to buy all the produced hand-woven fabrics for the development of the brands’ upcoming collections (Bayo, Unica, and Viseversa).

Bayo has also worked with donors like the Taiwan Association in the Philippines, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, and the Province of Sulu. Currently, the company is working on the completion of 150,000 face masks for all BPI employees nationwide. It has also been tasked to supply the company uniforms of China Savings Bank employees.

While helping others, the company has also been helping its own employees. From providing masks and protective wear to each employee, transporting the production team members from homes to work, finding alternative jobs for certain members who may not yet be able to report to the office, to ensuring that the livelihood of over 2,000 family members of its employees may be sustained, and that more jobs can be created are its current priorities.

To know more about Bayo’s collection and projects, follow @bayoclothing and shop online www.styleshops.com.ph.

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