Cebu City, Philippines— Are you into cute fashionable earrings?
If you are, check out this new trendy earrings introduced by a group of young ladies from Cebu.
Gansilyo.ceb is starting a new earring trend in Cebu by selling crocheted earrings.
This trendy online shop is gaining attention because of the nifty and affordable fashion finds. Their products range from P99 to P600.
The shop actually started as a school project of five senior high students–Patricia Abellana, Sophia Ang, Camille Beloria, and Cybil Ybanez.
“We started our business because of a requirement in our business enterprise class, which tasked us to look for beneficiaries in Barangay Kamputhaw to start up a social enterprise. For us, it was not merely a requirement. It was a chance for us to help and give back to the community and to help them have a stable income. We wanted to help improve the lives of people living in Barangay Kamputhaw. We simply want a better future for them by helping them start with a business that they can ultimately call their own,” Ang said.
The group started out by searching for potential beneficiaries in Barangay Kamputhaw. In the Barangay Hall, they were able to find women who crochet in their spare time but lack the funding for initial capital to establish a business.
“We found ate Estella Fernandez and told her if she wanted to do this project with us, and then she said yes,” she said. “Currently we have nine mothers working on the crochet and our main contact is still ate Estella, we are able to help them by giving them this kind of livelihood program, simple to sustain and trendy.”
On March 1, 2019, the group started selling publicly and so far, sales have been stable.
“Our future plan for the business is to expand through the addition of new collections and through the release of our crocheted apparel. We also plan to bring the women workers into the spotlight and [help them] get the recognition that they deserve through our videos or maybe a future collection that can highlight their creativity” said Ang.
Those interested to check out their products you can visit their Instagram @gansilyo.ceb and visit the store Craft Story in Crossroads Banilad.
The store can also cater to made-to-order items.
“If there are customers who have special designs they want us to make, we will consult first with the mothers and if they can make it, then we will give the customer the estimated price. If the customer agrees with the price, then we will produce it,” explained Ang. /bmjo