Her designs are a fusion of modern construction and traditional native fabrics like abaca, jute, piña, ramie and native silks. The result is a delightfully current collection of clothing that is proudly Filipino fashion.
Always the innovator, Sari-Sari Store’s Ako line pushes the envelope in the promotion of locally-produced apparel. Already the line has become quite a favorite among foreign expatriates in Manila.
Grace Nono says: "Listen to your inner voice. It is our hotline to the very first Creator. Trust it and remain true to it. It is the voice of your true self. Remember too, that the "self" does not exist in isolation, but is always a part of a bigger self that includes others. Thus, we may define Ako as the point where the individual and the universe meet. We are all the same. But all of us are also different, and for a good purpose: that we may be able to share and benefit from each other. As the rainforests and coral reefs are dying because their natural diversity is being destroyed, so, too, will we be destroyed if we turn away from our rich cultural heritage. Our divergent native cultures are what keep us all different, and make us capable of sharing something that is truly valuable with the rest of the world."
For the past 16 years, Sari-Sari Store has been a purveyor of fashion trends and up-to-date styles. It is a constantly evolving repository of new design ideas inspired by the world around us and interpreted by full-blooded Filipino design talents. Since 1985, before the influx of fashion magazines, catalogs and websites, one headed for the nearest Sari-Sari branch to see what was in style.
As its name suggests, Sari-Sari represents diversity, and celebrates the differences of every indvidual. The store makes available different clothing and lifestyle products for different occasions, different personalities, different lifestyles, different body types, even for different moods.
The store embodies the celebration of the unique self: The individual, the "I," or in our native tongue, "Ako."
At the transition of 1999 and 2000, Sari-Sari launched what would be the epitome of its individuality-led vision: a new line of clothes and creative lifeways called "Ako." The store had always been a convergence of different individual ideas, views and designs from different sources both here and abroad. The time was ripe to launch a unique line that promoted tradition, in a way that keeps it continually relevant and responsive to divergent needs and tastes.