THE SANSKRIT symbol and sound Om represents the universe — so how would you feel holding that in your hands?
ArteFino, the artisanal fair, ended this year’s run on Aug. 3, and before they did, they awarded Best Product for Fashion Accessories to Carry Om, a brand centered around upcycled bags. The brand was created earlier this year by couple Viktoria Salazar and Dhanvan Saulo. They are also behind the vegan restaurant Cosmic and its non-alcoholic bar, Gnostic (both located in Poblacion, Makati). Combined, their businesses begin to create an urban lifestyle centered on caring for the environment through personal choice.
In an interview with BusinessWorld on the last day of ArteFino, Ms. Salazar said, “When you’re carrying Om, it’s carrying vibrations.”
The bags are made by senior citizen-seamstresses employed by Mr. Saulo’s family. That family was behind a bag brand in the 1980s, transitioning to a similar sustainable model in the early 2000s. The 2000s bag brand made new bags out of bags found in thrift stores: the Carry Om model uses deadstock and fabric scraps from mass-producing factories, and these materials have to make up at least 90% of the bags.
Mr. Saulo said, “Everything that I’ve done, I always focus on sustainability.” According to Ms. Salazar, he was raised in a home that practiced Hinduism. “Just the way I grew up,” said Mr. Saulo. “I’ve been vegetarian since I was born. Sustainability has been ingrained in me since I was a kid, from the food on the plate that I eat.”
Cosmic is popular for its iterations of Filipino food made vegan-style: think kare-kare (peanut stew) but eliminating all the animal elements (it’s normally made with tripe and oxtails, and seasoned with shrimp paste), and a vegan version of bagnet (usually made with cured, salted, dried, then deep-fried pork). “We have this notion with vegan restaurants that it doesn’t taste good and it’s expensive. They wanted to crush that, showing people that it can be affordable, and it can taste good. It’s more of accessibility to people,” said Ms. Salazar.
A look at Carry Om’s items shows they’re cleverly designed with pockets and compartments concealed on the inside, with loops here and there to hang charms from (the couple makes a pun about being funky and functional). They’re also awash with colors. “I wanted people to feel how it is with colors. When you see colors, the first thing you feel is happiness. Dopamine. I wanted to share that with other people,” said Ms. Salazar. “How happy I am creating it, is how I want people to wear it.
“You carry Om, you carry happiness, essentially,” she said.
Here’s the thing: anyone can make something vegan or sustainable, without having to think of aesthetics or appeal. The couple does make things sustainable, but they want to do it well. Mr. Saulo says, “People generally buy not for a cause. When people buy, it’s really for something valuable to them.”
The bags are going mainstream: they’re already in Opus Mall’s Spatio and Purveyr, and this month, they’ll be sold in Bratpack stores.
“We know the trajectory of where the world is (going). We’re depleting a lot of natural resources. There’s really a lack of people trying to build a business about sustainability,” said Mr. Saulo. “And consciousness,” added Ms. Salazar.
“When you eat something from Cosmic, even if it’s just one meal, it’s already a big difference in the chain,” she said. “With our bags, just purchasing something is helping trash not be trash.”
Find Carry Om at https://carryom.com.ph/ and on Instagram @carryom.ph. — Joseph L. Garcia
