A Philippine-based fashion and design house is bringing its products to North America for the first time, launching an online shop with a wide range of products on the very first day of October, in line with the celebration of Filipino-American History Month.
Rags2Riches, Inc. (R2R), a 13-year-old social enterprise that creates fashion and home accessories out of upcycled fashion waste materials and indigenous fabrics, partnered with Canada-based e-commerce which also showcases products made by artisans in the Philippines, Cambio & Co.
Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, president and founding partner of R2R, said in an interview with Philippine Canadian Inquirer (PCI) that they have been very happy to work with Cambio & Co. which, just like them, has the mission of supporting Filipino artisans by giving them a sustainable livelihood.
“We resonate so much with the values of Cambio & Co and loved working with them so much that when they opened the potential of partnering with us for our first North America online store, we were very excited to explore it with them!” she said.
This was not the first time that R2R expanded internationally. Being in the industry for more than a decade, R2R has brought their products to countries like Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, London, and the United States through various stockists and partners.
On their website, R2RShop.com, customers can choose from a variety of bags, artisanal home decor, as well as face masks. More products will be offered to North America advocates as R2R will release items exclusive for them “in the very near future.”
Fernandez-Ruiz described this expansion to North America as one of their “biggest milestones” in 2020.
While they are still thrilled with the launching of their North America online store, Fernandez-Ruiz said they are also looking forward to being partners with the official sewing services provider of IKEA Philippines, the largest branch in the world to be opened in Manila soon.