Mining the old-fashioned art of hatmaking

The word “bonsai” may refer to miniature trees, but Bonsai Fojas is clearly no small talent. A senior copywriter at Publicis Manila, she officially became a milliner as well two years ago, launching her own label, Bonne — a line of custom-made fascinators, pill box hats, headbands, clips, and brooches favored by designers, socialites, artists and some well-known personalities, including Tuesday Vargas and Bernie Sim of Electrolychee.

Her approach is not trend-led; she references the Ziegfeld girls of the 1920s and unconventional women of the 20th century — the likes of Louise Brooks, Coco Chanel and Marchesa Luisa Casati. As a result, her candy-colored creations channel an era of elegance and sophistication. “I am old-fashioned and very much into vintage,” the 31-year-old states.

It is her unique aesthetic, vivid imagination, eccentricity and wit that appeal to the young set. Not one to play by the rules, she mixes colors and uses assorted materials such as feathers, beads, tulle, lace, felt fabric, French netting, Swarovski crystals and sequins that complement one another. She creates pieces that she genuinely loves and would wear herself, but always keeps in mind the customer she is designing for — someone who is fun, quirky, and not afraid to express her personal style.

What’s interesting to note is that Fojas has had no formal training in sewing. Instead, one might be tempted to say that it was fate that led to her new vocation, since it all started when she won a brand-new sewing machine in a Christmas raffle several years ago.

Fate, however, is no substitute for hard work, and Fojas has certainly put in her share, beginning with making her own clothes, dolls, and patchwork pieces from scratch, and going on to spend hours and hours researching on the Internet — reading independent designers’ blogs, downloading video tutorials, and, through all this, eventually discovering the joy of making hats.

Her online presence proved to be the key to her growing success; she would post photos of her work — fresh off the sewing machine — initially to friends and friends of friends, but soon leading to her first big client. In 2009, Glam-O-Mama’s Amanda Griffin purchased 17 hats for a friend’s bridal shower in Tuscany, Italy. Next thing Fojas knew, designers Sassa Jimenez and Kristel Yulo had commissioned her to do head pieces for their wedding clients.

Today, her one-of-a-kind hats not only adorn brides and their entourages, but command a lot of attention from fashionable Filipinos from all walks of life, for all sorts of occasions, living all over the world, including China, Singapore, Japan, Canada, and Italy — not bad for a brand that’s less two years old!

Just like anyone starting out, Fojas is a one-woman show. She is involved with every aspect of design, from production to promotion, aggressively involving herself in fashion shoots and collaborating with photographers, models and stylists.

“I’m really excited about the direction Bonne is going,” shares the self-taught milliner. Currently working on a wedding entourage in France, as well as 100 hats to be shipped to Australia, Fojas is dreaming big. “I would like to do serious millinery someday,” she adds, “learn as much as I can so I can expand and improve on my craft. Eventually, I’d like to put up a small shop and create hats that every Filipina can wear.”