Co-founder and creative director Elsie Standen celebrated Allena’s innovation, resiliency, and tight-knit community during the pandemic in an exclusive interview on Daily Tribune’s digital lifestyle show Spotlight recently.
The family-owned business offers high-quality, functional, and contemporary knitwear with timeless designs and clever knitting approaches. The company also adds new spins to traditional Filipino designs and is an advocate for comfortability.
Innovation is at the core of their textile business. “One of the fabrics that we’re very, very proud about, that we talk about a lot, is our very own innovation. It’s fabric that has three layers but is very breathable. We have a lot of other fabrics that we have made, like our popcorn design. I think everybody is familiar with just the knitted fabric; we call it the jersey, and ours is done in such a way that may look a little bit thick, but it’s comfortable,” Standen said.
The company’s name was inspired by a female character in a book they had read long ago: “She is somebody who makes her own fabrics. (We chose) Allena because it doesn’t sound so sweet and feminine.”
Emi Daniel, sister of Standen and co-founder of Allena, became a saving grace for the factory workers of their previous business, manufacturing apparel for foreign clothing brands. She took in her colleagues who also lost their jobs. Daniel heads the research and development of Allena.
“When the company closed, we decided to absorb the people who lost their jobs and so we started…not yet with our own brand. We started off as a manufacturing company for most of the brands here in the Philippines,” Standen said.
Like most businesses during the pandemic, Allena struggled financially and even considered closing permanently but they had already built a tight-knit community. Though they haven’t fully recovered, Standen added, they remain hopeful.
“Timing has been a challenge. Just before the pandemic, we opened our boutique and we were so happy with how it was, and then pandemic happened. It was not just us who were suffering. Of course, everybody,” she said.
“There are many times when we would sit down and think about just giving up, but then again, we do have a village. Other people who advocate something talk about helping people up in the mountains, down in communities. But our community is our people where our factories are,” she added.
Her family warned her to quit the industry when they saw the hardships firsthand, but her passion grew stronger.
“Since the pandemic, I’ve learned to work at home. Well, I do try. I do go to the factory three times a week at least, compared to before when I would go more often, so I would check on what is ready with our R&D. Now that we have two places where we have the full staff, we have one side where we’re making all this, and then on the other side, we have the R&D for our knits,” Standen said.
One of her jobs entails designing knitted clothes that are inclusive of all sizes.
“Of course, we would come up with something. I’ll think about something in such a way that a person can sit down. I’m very, very conscious, not everybody is shaped like you, and not everybody is slim, so we make sure we cover everyone. It will look gorgeous on a very, very thin person and a very, very big person as well. So we would like to cover everybody,” she said.
When asked what’s her favorite product, Standen picked the bolero, soft and lightweight, made out of pure cotton, ideal to sport during the chilly weather or to wear in summer.
“My favorite product? I cannot say, they are all my favorites. I love them all. It depends on what I’m doing. But if I was traveling, this bolero would come with me because I would wear it on the plane. I’ll wrap it around my neck and I get to wear it whenever I am. I could wear it as an accessory as well I could wear it long, short, whatever,” she said.
Stylish and eco-conscious
Allena also found a way to turn discarded single-use plastic items into fashion accessories for your OOTDs (outfit of the day).
The Full Stop collection includes lanyards, bracelets, and necklaces made out of recycled Category 2 HDPE, single-use, disposable plastic.
According to Allena’s website, the process starts with shredding and sorting out plastic item, then molding them using machines the company made themselves.
The supply of plastic comes from a nearby coffee shop that voluntarily gives them empty milk gallons, and from yarn cones they use in the factory.
To find Allena’s products, one can visit their website and their physical shop in Shop 251, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City.