Behind the seams: Team Manila reborn

MANILA, Philippines - From the moment I spot the photo of Jose Rizal coolly sporting a pair of aviators through the glass door, I know I have come to the right place. The narrow hallway gives way to the unexpectedly spacious Team Manila headquarters filled with designers working intently at their computers. The office is cluttered but not overly so — new designs and monthly memos are pinned to the corkboards on the walls while several coffee mugs are haphazardly scattered on the tables.

After walking into such a typical office setting, it’s hard for me to imagine what Jowee Alviar must have looked like when he and his partner, Mon Punzalan, first started selling their T-shirts out of a makeshift garage store. The team lived in a two-bedroom townhouse, Alviar recalls fondly, all five of them forced to share one room since the other served as their studio. Fast forward eight years and 11 stores later: Alviar and Punzalan are still as involved as ever in the evolution of Team Manila Lifestyle, the trendsetting fashion label responsible for taking everyday Filipino images off the streets and into our closets.

Surprisingly, Filipino-Americans were Team Manila’s first patrons. These 20-somethings found themselves disconnected from their native identity, searching for answers beyond their parents’ stories of the good (or not so good) old days. Admittedly, they aren’t the only ones who need to be reintroduced. “It’s the same as Rizal. Before, he’s everywhere, nasa pera, sa notebook, sa plaza. Sometimes, it’s too everyday that you take it for granted already,” explains Alviar.

This is where Team Manila’s distinctive design aesthetic comes in, transforming something as ordinary as the neighborhood taho vendor or the run-of-the-mill jeepney into something extraordinary. Despite the newfound appreciation the brand has fostered for everyday Filipino life, they aren’t satisfied just yet. In fact, they are setting their sights on exploring more of the Philippines. In line with its attempts to expand beyond Metro Manila and to avoid being too Manila-centric, Team Manila Lifestyle is slowly being rebranded as TM.

Meanwhile, Team Manila will soon be launching its Heritage Collection, an attempt to boast the richness of our national history and preserve our traditions through design. The collection is inspired by the patterns and weavings of our indigenous peoples, such as the T’Boli in South Cotobato and the mountain tribes in Sagada. “Gusto naming ipakita na we have all these beautiful fabrics or patterns and there’s a story behind these patterns, kung sino yung gumagawa o ano yung belief nila,” Alviar elaborates, “In terms of fashion, people appreciate Aztec prints but we have all those patterns din, di lang nila alam.”

Although Team Manila’s round tees will always be the brand’s bread and butter, shoppers will be surprised by the new cuts and silhouettes the label has in store. Brand manager Beng Ochoa dives into the details of the spring/summer collection, showing me photos of baseball shirts, pocket tees, cut and saw ethnic pattern tops and button down shirts. For the fall/holiday season, she tells me that women will have even more to choose from with maxi dresses, tunic dresses, tank tops, razorbacks and cardigans lining the stores’ clothing racks. Although the focus is on widening the ladies’ collection, the men might be happy to know that hoodies and pants are next on the agenda.

Whether it’s selling Eraserheads’ reunion concert T-shirts “punk rock style” on the sidewalk, designing T-shirts based on Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s feisty pick-up lines or creating posters that encourage people to support the Department of Tourism’s tourism campaigns, Team Manila’s bold and enterprising spirit has brought about some amazing collaborations in recent years. This mindset will hopefully continue to permeate future collections. “For this round, the team went through the Internet and books and then brainstormed before coming up with the ethnic designs but we also plan on visiting the actual provinces and tribes to further research and maybe even develop merchandise with them,” shares Ochoa.

With so much going on, I can’t help but ask what else they could still possibly want to accomplish. “Di naman masama magkaroon ng Team Manila Hotel? Not bad having a Team Manila restaurant?” Alviar jokes. On a more serious note, he adds that they are more than willing to pursue other fields so long as these allow them to do what they do best. Hotel and restaurant management aside, the future looks brighter than ever for Team Manila.

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The majority of Team Manila’s 11 stores are in Metro Manila but there are also branches in Davao, Zamboanga, Pampanga and Subic. For more information or to shop online, visit http://teammanilalifestyle.com/shop/.