For 10 years now, a local lifestyle brand has been providing multifunctional travel and storage accessories for the modern traveler.
From transparent or personalized cosmetic cases to clear plastic bottles and atomizers, Beabi has become the go-to store for travel essentials.
Every year since then, sisters and owners Winnie Go and Willin Chan have expanded their stores’ mix to include fashion bags and lightweight totes.
To mark Beabi’s 10th anniversary this year, Go and Chan have partnered with prolific artist Manuel Baldemor to come up with three bags—two handbags and a tote—featuring his floral paintings.
“I had just bought one of his floral paintings recently and had the chance to meet him,” Chan told Lifestyle at the MBaldemor x Beabi Floral Symphony launch held last week.
“He suggested a collaboration which we found rather fitting since we were marking a milestone year.”
Active life
The 72-year-old painter who hails from the town of Paete in Laguna still leads a very active life. He personally chose the date of the launch—the Monday after a long weekend—because he had just arrived from an overseas arts-related trip and was leaving in the middle of the week for another foreign trip.
The exhibit of his paintings, which coincided with the bag launch at the Ronac Arts Center on Ortigas Avenue near Greenhills, features over a dozen flower paintings, many of them completed in 2006.
“When I was 9 years old growing up in Paete, I used to paint flowers on the saddles of the papier-mâché horses, called taka. It took me several decades before I went back to doing flower paintings,” Baldemor said.
Baldemor refers to himself as a folk painter, and in fact he is known for his interpretations of idyllic country life. His flower paintings, however—all done in a watercolor wash—are vibrant and muted at the same time.
For the artist, flowers are an indispensable element of the Filipino landscape.
“A simple flower … has a certain peace and tranquility you can take into yourself. They are universal, and a symbol of love and peace. They speak directly to our hearts and have their own secret and unspoken language of diplomacy,” he said.
The limited-edition bags (P2,495) are available at Beabi stores nationwide and online at https://beabi.com.ph. Tucked inside each bag is a matching cosmetic pouch.