The Philippine government will promote handmade pineapple cloth in the European Union’s couture market, President Gloria Arroyo said. At a meeting with science ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), she showcased a coat and dress made of rose-coloured pineapple cloth. Describing her outfit, Arroyo said, “Young coconut husk was used to dye what I’m wearing. An indigenous product like coconut can make its mark in this modern day and age.” She referred to Europe’s preference for things natural.

Arroyo also lauded the Philippine Textile Research Institute, which has developed 50 natural dyes sourced from coconut husk, indigo, mahogany, tamarind, red achuete and yellow ginger. Twenty years ago, couturier Patis Tesoro, now known as the mother of pineapple cloth, was alarmed at the sky-rocketing price of the vanishing fabric which was the “national treasure” of Aklan in central Philippines.

Tesoro and her friends funded the planting of the long-leafed variety of pineapple in several communities in Aklan. Households were given handlooms to inspire older people to teach the art of weaving pineapple cloth. Soon, residents went back to planting of the pineapple variety which has no fruit. They began threshing pineapple leaves into pulp to create soft pineapple threads. The women started weaving them into fabric that found its way into the designers’ studios.

“The price of pineapple went down and pineapple cloth, even when intricately embroidered, became affordable to almost all Filipinos,” said Tesoro. Now, the Philippine government should push the expensive, beautiful, and hand woven pineapple cloth in the European market where “anything green and natural” is considered beautiful, said Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro.

Selling “green dresses” for the high end market abroad could generate jobs in Aklan and for the embroiders in Laguna, southern Luzon, because a high-end market is willing to pay for these products, said Alabastro. “In Europe, the people are very environment conscious and they want green products even if the price is a bit higher,” Alabastro said. Philippine fashion houses area also established in Aklan.

Jabbar and his crew. . .