I’ve always, always loved handbags,” said Mai Mai Cojuangco with a dreamy expression in her eyes. “I can’t afford to buy everything I want, but I’ve always had this appreciation for bags. My sister Liaa (Cojuangco-Bautista) is like me.”

Last Saturday, Cojuangco launched her first collection of handbags under her label Demetria—a 24-piece collaboration with Idee clothing store in Makati. Demetria is a name she shares with her daughter, and is also her grandmother’s name.

Margarita Demetria Cojuangco-Zini, Mai Mai to family and friends, has been living in Florence, Italy, for the last 15 years, where she studied bag and accessories design.

Years ago, she was working as a designer for her Italian husband’s company, whose family owned the international license for Benetton and Sisley accessories. They also own the Segue accessories brand.

But after a few years, the Cojuangco scion—fourth daughter of José “Peping” and Margarita “Tingting”—wanted to go on her own and develop her own brand. “I wanted to broaden my horizons, to be able to produce bags of a different price level. I wanted to throw myself into an environment that was new,” she said.

 

Huge advantage

“But two months after I started doing my own thing, I got pregnant,” she added. The young mom stopped working to focus on raising her daughter, Demi, now 7. “And then the economic crisis happened… A lot of things happened.”

Pre-motherhood, “I wasn’t just designing bags,” Cojuangco said. “I also constructed bags with my own hands. There’s a huge advantage to that because I knew construction. It’s a real craft, a proper profession, and I have a lot of respect for leather artisans who have been doing this for decades. I only did it for three or four years. I had the privilege of working with people who knew their craft.”

Last year, in Florence, she met Rica Lorenzo, owner of this new-ish, secret little boutique in Makati called Idee (2263 Chino Roces Ave. Ext.). They were introduced by Cojuangco’s older sister, Pin Cojuangco-Guingona, who’s an Idee customer.

Idee has had collaborations with capsule collections of designers like Bea Valdes, Sofia Borromeo and CJ Cruz.

Cojuangco, says Lorenzo, was very easy to work with, “very pleasant. Unlike other creative people, she’s not moody.”

“We met six months ago, and we worked very quickly,” said the designer, who was tasked to look for—and practically beg—an Italian workshop who would agree to make a very small number of purses for them. It was a challenge, she said, since the Italians were used to working with established companies.

The designer created three styles, eight pieces each—designs of which she says she hasn’t seen from other brands, and all of which she would herself carry. She also designed all the hardware just for the collection, wrapped with leather. All bags are also lined with leather.

There’s Sempre, “always” in Italian, a large, roomy tote “that you can stuff all your and your kid’s things into, and it would still look nice when it’s fat and full,” worn for “everyday war”; a small, oval-shaped crossbody called Demi, named after her daughter; and Bucket, each piece tied on top with its one-of-a-kind silk scarf, a couple of which are from luxury brands from her own collection.

 

Neutrals

All styles have detachable shoulder straps, and come in wearable, neutral colors (black, indigo, olive, pine, petrol blue, dark brown, red).

The purses retail for P48,750 (Demi); P49,850 (Bucket); and P59,800 (Sempre)—a fraction of what they could fetch in luxury e-boutiques, considering the quality and craftsmanship. Each is made with tanto amore, much love.

Cojuangco, who also founded a start-up last year and launched a social-messaging app called Sympies, has big plans for Demetria. At the moment, she likes the idea of putting her designs in small boutiques, to test how people respond and hear what they like. In their next run, she says, she and Lorenzo hope to be able to offer more color options, for instance.

She laughs at the notion that people think she’s making a comeback. In the ’90s, she and her sisters, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworksi and China Cojuangco-Gonzalez, were celebrity and society darlings who did their fair share of commercial modeling. They were the “It” girls, pre-social media.

“It’s funny because it’s not like I did show biz,” she says. “I only did magazine covers… I’m very adventurous. When I want to do something, I’m not afraid to do so. The opportunity presented itself. I’m doing handbags again, so it’s been a bit crazy. But life is like that, right?”

 

 

 

She traveled alone on this trip. Demi, who’s on Easter break, stayed behind with her dad.

“It’s always a big thing for me to come and visit. I think there’s a lot to be done in this country, but there are a lot of opportunities that are new and exciting,” she says.

“I always miss home and family. If you live away from family, a lot of things depend on you. Back in Italy, I do things on my own. I drive my daughter to school, we do her homework together. I mean, I have help, but it’s different with family. Having great family support allows you to do things for yourself as well, maybe travel for work for four days or something. But having a child also brings a whole new set of rich experiences.

“I come here whenever I can, I always wish I could stay longer. Thank goodness for the internet! I don’t want to set limitations on what I can and cannot do because I’m not physically here. My family’s happy that I’m doing this. It’s me coming full circle.”

A version of this article has appeared on Inquirer.net.