Amid these difficult times, we find light in the true spirit of bayanihan. Today’s silver lining is c/o our talented homegrown fashion designers. Borrowing a term from my young staff—
TL;DR: Our prototype for a protective suit for medical frontliners has been approved!!!🥳 1/
TL;DR: Our prototype for a protective suit for medical frontliners has been approved!!!🥳 1/
This was made possible by designers who stepped up to help create a locally-produced protective suit. We made this call a few days ago amid the volume of requests & challenges in sourcing PPEs. Our dear friend @michdulce answered in just a few hrs, asking for a sample. 2/
.@michdulce didn’t just reverse-engineer the suit we gave her—she called for reinforcement from her fellow fashion designers, who committed to the project, too. In just a day, they were able to come up w/ a pattern and a techpack now available online for everyone’s use. 3/
The design was medically reviewed in Berkeley, CA. It was recommended we use the material Tyvek, a construction material common in hardware stores outside PH. We ended up looking for similar materials from local suppliers, w/ our frontliners’ protection as main consideration. 4/
We didn’t want to take our chances; the suit has to adequately protect our health workers. Dr. Cesar Espiritu, President/CEO of Medical City South Luzon linked us to Dr. Jesus Julio Ancheta, an infectious diseases expert, who helped check our prototypes & materials on hand. 5/
(Here comes the good part!!!🥳)
It took us more than 48 hrs of going back & forth—until this afternoon, we got word that, finally, our prototype has been approved! This one was made by Joey Socco using Tafetta Silver Back Lining, suggested & donated by Dr. Reina Tajonera. 6/
It took us more than 48 hrs of going back & forth—until this afternoon, we got word that, finally, our prototype has been approved! This one was made by Joey Socco using Tafetta Silver Back Lining, suggested & donated by Dr. Reina Tajonera. 6/
This suit is reusable & the pattern is available for EVERYONE’s use. You can access the open source pattern & techpack here: drive.google.com/drive/mobile/f…
This pattern is for LARGE. Coming up: Small & Medium + a 2-pc version to make bathroom breaks easier for our frontliners. 7/
This pattern is for LARGE. Coming up: Small & Medium + a 2-pc version to make bathroom breaks easier for our frontliners. 7/
W/ this, we can go full steam into production now. We will be producing in bulk, but you can all have our local mananahis make them for frontliners in your areas, esp. for those in provinces—just make sure to use Tafetta SBL. 8/
Again, many thanks to @michdulce for the initiative & many sleepless nights, & to her colleagues who answered the call. You guys are the best!🇵🇭 Thanks to Dr. Espiritu & Dr. Ancheta for guiding us through this.
(& thank you, everyone, for indulging me w/ this long story😅)
(& thank you, everyone, for indulging me w/ this long story😅)
