The pragmatic among us may quickly dismiss the saying that everything happens for a reason. But that was exactly what happened to businesswoman Mila Arnaldo of Vincie’s Collections, and how her beautiful and handmade dinner sets dubbed as “fabric on glass” came about.
Arnaldo learned the craft in 1997 while hoping and waiting for her daughter to emerge from a coma.
But that’s getting ahead of the story.
Using imported heat-tempered glassware from Europe such as Luminarc and Arcoroc, Arnaldo and a team of five spend almost every day gluing various fabrics on plates, cups, saucers, bowls and even pitchers before sunbaking, sealing and buffing them at least six times.
“There was a time I had 28 people,” she said in our interview in her Quezon City home, which also houses the company office and production area. “It takes us at least two weeks to finish a batch of products. We need to repeat the process over and over until the finish is even and consistent. Everything is done by hand.”
If the person in charge of quality finds even a small bubble, say, on a plate, that plate is stripped of its fabric, and goes back to step one. The company uses special glue, which dissolves, sticks to the glass and becomes invisible once it’s heated.
“As long as the piece can still be salvaged, we don’t stop until we get it right,” Arnaldo said. “European-made glass pieces, although expensive, are still the best. I once tried local pieces, but they broke easily. Even cheaper glassware from China and Indonesia won’t do, as they break even in the initial sunbaking.”
Arnaldo can use almost any fabric, even rustic-looking “sinamay” and burlap, as long as the material doesn’t stretch. Because of its thin and rigid quality, printed cotton has proven the best.
Once the fabric is sealed in the glass, water or moisture cannot seep into the piece.
“Using silk and jersey is out of the question because they tend to stretch,” she said. “And since my creations are handmade products, they require extra care when washing.”
By hand
She always tells clients living abroad, especially in the US, never to stick their “fabrics on glass” in the dishwasher. They have to be cleaned the old-fashioned way—by hand.
“I have several fabrics, including Christmas-theme prints, clients can choose from,” said Arnaldo, whose products are also carried by Kultura (SM Makati and Mall of Asia branches) and Tesoro’s on Pasay Road. “As long as fabrics are workable, I’m also open to using materials provided by clients.”
Arnaldo can also use lace as long as it’s not pristine white because the material tends to turn yellow with time.
Now that the “ber” months are fast-approaching, she and her team are bracing themselves for a jump in orders. Apart from individuals, she also caters to companies, which use her products as corporate giveaways.
“They can even provide us with a company logo, which we can incorporate in a pitcher or small plate,” she said.
Tough time
Arnaldo was going through a tough time when she stumbled on the craft while in the US. It was in 1997 when their adult daughter, Judy, who had been diagnosed with leukemia, lay in a coma after undergoing a bone marrow transplant. She and husband Jesse could only pray for a miracle.
Jesse was also suffering from lung cancer. He passed away in 2002.
“Judy’s American doctors told us that it was just a routine procedure,” she recalled. “For some reason, she was unable to wake up after.”
Judy’s doctors advised the couple to gather every member of the family, including their two sons in Manila. Arnaldo refused, as she wanted them to remember Judy the way she was. She didn’t lose hope that her second child would wake up.
To keep herself occupied, Arnaldo, a devout Catholic, spent her days in prayer and joined an ecumenical Bible study group. Members of the group took turns playing host, opening their homes.
“My days in the US became more bearable,” she said. “Our Bible studies became a form of therapy for me.”
It was in one such session in a member’s house when an attractive glass plate caught Arnaldo’s attention. She asked the house’s owner, Vincie Bavario, where she got it. When Arnaldo learned that it was a DIY project, she expressed her desire to learn the craft from Vincie.
Soon after they became friends, Vincie started teaching Arnaldo her “secrets.” Labor being expensive in the US, Vincie had no intentions of parlaying her knowledge into a business.
Weeks passed before Judy regained consciousness. But she was totally dependent on caregivers. She couldn’t even speak and stand.
“She had to start again from zero,” said Arnaldo. “One of her doctors said that she would forever be like that. But I said no. I have faith in God that she would soon be the Judy we all knew.”
And true enough before they were given the go signal to go home later that year, Judy’s condition vastly improved. Her American doctors, who attributed the development to a miracle, couldn’t believe it.
“To prove my point, I went back to one of Judy’s doctors to ask him to recall what he said,” Arnaldo said. “The doctor could only nod and say, ‘Mrs. Arnaldo, this is one development I will never forget for the rest of my life.’”
The Arnaldos went home for good later that year. Armed with the fundamentals she learned from Vincie, Arnaldo took the craft further through endless experiments.
When she felt she was ready to let the world know of her products, she went to Rustan’s with a few samples and asked a manager if they could carry it in their home décor section.
“The manager was so impressed, but instead of featuring the product as a decorative object, she encouraged me to make it functional by producing entire dinner sets. It was really more than what I expected,” said Arnaldo.
Vincie’s Collections
It was the start of her five-year business relationship with Rustan’s, and later Tesoro’s.
In honor of her friend, Arnaldo named her fledgling enterprise Vincie’s Collections. Her dinner sets were always sold out that Rustan’s never put them on sale. She also started catering to made-to-order customers.
Everything came to a halt when her husband died in 2002. Arnaldo was so devastated that she lost all interest in the business.
In time, again, her faith saw her through.
By 2007, with a fraction of the workforce she once had, she restarted the business.
“I went back to Rustan’s and asked them if they still wanted to carry my stuff,” she said. “Unfortunately, their priorities had changed by then. But I was lucky because I was soon able to strike a deal with SM.”
None of this, she said, would have been possible without Judy and, of course, Vincie. Whenever she’s in the US, Arnaldo tries to visit her mentor. She also never fails to give her gifts of her recent works.
“Vincie is so happy for me,” she said. “Judy is now fully healed. Except for some motor and vision problems, it’s as if nothing happened. She’s the reason behind all this.”
Call Vincie’s Collections at 9298659. Visit www.vinciesfinest.com, Vincie’s Collections’ Facebook page or e-mail vinciesfinest27@yahoo.com.