Yeo Kaa's designs as Adidas' first Filipina collaborator boosts both style, spirit
MANILA, Philippines — Talented, pretty and with many sold-out solo exhibits here and abroad, Yeo Kaa is a poster girl of what a successful young woman should be.
In spite these, there were times that the Filipina artist wanted to drift away into oblivion, opening up to Philstar.com in an interview exclusive that she used to not see a future for herself.
“For the longest time, very depressed ako. Tapos around 2017, naging okay ako. After nu’n, parang naging wala lang ang feelings… ‘yung mga doubts ko, nabubuhay,” she recalled.
“Dati, may goal naman (ako) sa buhay, pero parang dati, hindi (ko) naman g anu’n pinu-push ‘yung sarili ko. That’s the problem.”
According to her, she was so down, she used to tell herself: “Bakit ko naman kailangang gawin ‘yan? Hindi naman kailangan. Wala naman akong future.”
Her mindset was: “Bahala kayo. Hindi ko kailangang maging maayos kasi wala naman akong mapag-iiwanan.”
'Strong girl period'
During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, as the world started to heal, so did Yeo Kaa from her mental health struggles.
“During pandemic… nakapagrelax talaga ako. Mas nakilala ko ‘yung sarili ko. Kasi habang lahat ng tao nagkakagulo nu’ng pandemic, ako, ‘yun lang ‘yung time na nakahinga ako. Tapos d’un lang ako nakapag-isip nang maayos. Dahil d’un, umayos ako. Gusto ko ang lahat ng nasa paligid ko, maayos din.”
After the pandemic, Yeo Kaa still encounters sadness spells, but she has learned how to manage it more, which is why she called this stage in her life as her “strong girl period."
“Medyo, and’un ‘yung struggle, pero kaya naman,” she declared.
Recently, Yeo Kaa has been given a chance to share her story of survival and continuous quest for strength as the first-ever female Filipino collaborator of international sports and lifestyle brand Adidas.
A silhouette born from basketball but made famous off-court, the Adidas Rivalry 86 Low has been reintroduced to the Philippines through the launch of the new “Strong Girl” colorway in collaboration with Yeo Kaa, who is best known for her paintings that depict her iconic candy-colored characters in states of reality.
“’Yung concept ng shoes is about strength. ‘Yung pinaka-pinaghuhugutan ko ngayon is ‘yung feeling na akala ko hindi na matatapos yung ganong pakiramdam na masama at mabigat. But lilipas at lilipas rin pala siya at magiging okay rin ang lahat sa huli,” Yeo Kaa explained in a statement her inspiration for the design.
The star of the collaboration is the character “Strong Girl,” Yeo Kaa’s self-portrait that mirrors her “cute” and “masayahin” (joyful) personal style — sporting green hair, just like the artist.
Yeo Kaa recalled to Philstar.com that her signature Girl character started in 2009, when she drew the Girl as a self-portrait requirement in class. The Girl then had curly hair, which Yeo Kaa had, then she modified the character later when she had her hair straightened and colored.
From her first exhibit in 2010, Yeo Kaa has staged over 15 solo exhibits, and some group shows — all of them were international — in Bangkok, Singapore and China, and one in the Philippines. This year, she mounted four solo exhibits.
“Very good, surviving,” she said of the global art market. What makes her successful internationally, she said, are her professional work ethic, and delivering requirements “always on-time.”
“Special s’ya kasi first time ko lang gumawa ng shoes,” she said of her first-ever Adidas collaboration.
The Rivalry 86 Low has a clean leather upper sporting the iconic 3-Stripes, but the “Strong Girl” colorway also features several unique design elements:
- The off-white footwear is contrasted by bright blue and solar green stripes, which Yeo Kaa associated with her new state of calmness and freshness.
- The graphic print of the word “Strong” in Yeo Kaa’s own typeface can be found in the midsole.
- Yeo Kaa’s signature character, as seen in most of her artworks, also makes several appearances on the shoe, the most noticeable of which is stitched to the heel. Staying true to the theme, the character has its arms flexed to depict personal strength.
- The character is also seen in the mudguard where three expressions of the character’s face are shown: surprise, happiness, and determination — emotions which reflect a journey to finding the motivation to keep fighting.
- Yeo Kaa leaves her mark with her name embossed on the shoe’s upper.
- “Strong Girl” retails for P6,800 and will be available in-store and online (adidas.com.ph and adidas App) exclusively to adiClub members starting October 19 as part of the brand’s adiClub Members Week celebration. To learn more about the launch and other releases for adiClub Members Week, visit adidas Philippines on Instagram and Facebook.
Like the brand’s other four previous local artist collaborations, Yeo Kaa also took the opportunity to put her art in the shoe’s sockliners, where her signature character makes its final appearance with an inscription that reads “Strong Girl Needs Rest Too.”
The sockliners show Strong Girl in two different states: one sleeping, and other, waking up, and these, Yeo Kaa explained to Philstar.com, reflect her current state of mind: “Gigising ako ngayon kasi gusto kong mabuhay, umayos…”
“Ngayon, gigising ako kasi may gusto kong mangyari sa buhay ko,” she said of the message that the waking and sleeping Strong Girl wants to parlay.
“Through this collaboration, we continue our commitment to support Filipino creators by giving them a platform to share their art, and the messages within it, to a larger audience. We couldn’t be happier to have Yeo Kaa as the first Filipina to design Adidas footwear, and for that shoe to hold such a profound and important message of strength and rest,” stated Adidas Philippines Brand Activation Manager Jen Dacasin.
Yeo Kaa wishes that more opportunities like the collaborations would be made available for Filipino artists like her. That, and to be a globally-competitive Filipino artist, are her new reasons for living.
“Tingin ko, mas kailangan pa natin bigyan ng mas marami pang platform ang mga kapwa nating Pilipino kasi tingin ko, maraming talented na Filipinos, kasi hindi lang tayo nabibigyan ng tamang platform or mas maraming platform,” she avered.
“Kailangan nating tulungan ang isa’t isa...”
