Aranaz creative director Amina Aranaz: ‘More than a bag brand, we see ourselves as a lifestyle brand’

Creative director Amina Aranaz talks about working with traditional artisans from the Philippines and why the Middle East has fallen in love with her creations.

Amina Aranaz, creative director and lead designer of the Aranaz fashion label. Courtesy Aranaz

“There is heart and soul in these products,” says Amina Aranaz, the creative director and lead designer of Aranaz, the Philippine fashion-accessories label she runs with her mother, Becky, and younger sister, Rosanna.

Featuring eye-catching tropical designs and crafted using sustainable materials, all sourced from the Philippines, her handbags have captivated shoppers across the Emirates with their luxurious craftsmanship inspired by indigenous techniques. They are all handmade in the Philippines by craftspeople with whom the brand has been working for almost two decades.

“The brand sprouted from the expertise of my mum in manufacturing bags using Filipino materials,” says Amina.

“It also has become some sort of a mission for us to utilise local materials and craftsmanship to create globally-relevant fashion products. It is a way of making sure that Filipino craftsmanship continues, and a way to make sure that certain communities have a steady source of livelihood.”

Aranaz was founded in 1999 when the mother-and-daughters trio started selling their creations from a stall at a weekly bazaar in Manila. The business has grown to become one of the leading home-grown fashion labels in the Philippines. Aranaz has been featured in international publications such as Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Marie Claire and Women's Wear Daily.

See more: Amina Aranaz's favourite Aranaz bags available in the UAE

Rosanna takes care of sales, branding and marketing. While there have been changes in the business strategy in the 17 years since the brand was founded, the production process has remained much the same.

“We truly appreciate the process and outcome of handmade pieces,” says Amina, who is also co-founder and executive director of the School of Fashion and the Arts Design Institute, a prestigious design college in Manila.

“Many of the craftspeople in the Philippines are only skilled in handmade techniques. In a way, these handmade techniques are very much intertwined with Filipino culture, so we hope that rather than [let] these crafts die, we find a way to make them evolve and progress.”

Aranaz has three boutiques in Manila and its items are stocked in more than a dozen cities worldwide, including New York, London, Athens and Hong Kong. Products are also available in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

In the UAE, Aranaz bags are stocked in S*uce boutiques across the country; Salines Boutique at Atlantis The Palm and Anantara The Palm in Dubai; GlamOnYou stores in Abu Dhabi and Dubai; and on Dubai-based online boutique Resort Runway (www.resortrunway.com).

The brand has grown here in partnership with distributor High Tide Trading in Dubai.

“We are lucky to have managed to find someone who really believes in our brand,” says Amina.

Handbags from three of Aranaz’s most-recent collections are available: Poolside, featuring designs inspired by seaside imagery including corals, crabs and nautical life; Picnics, featuring images of Filipino fruits; and Flamingo Fiesta, the brand’s latest Resort 2017 collection.

“It has a very vibrant, upbeat and festive mood inspired by the colours, culture and mood of South America, but interpreted through Filipino materials and craftsmanship,” says Amina.

“As a brand, we promote a life of leisure,” she adds, reflecting on why she thinks Aranaz’s exotic designs are proving popular with fashion crowds in the Middle East.

“By this, we mean that our products offer a sense of escape to women from their fast-paced lifestyles — something that may resonate with our shoppers.

“We bring them back to what we call the slow life. More than a bag brand, we see ourselves as a lifestyle brand.”