NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

The Modernization of Ilocano’s

Fashion Industry: A way to promote
the unnoticed field of textiles

Researchers:
TRISHIA ACORDA
JAMES BARAYUGA
DIOCEN DULDULAO
KIMBERLY LADIA
RISHA LIMBONA
RION VILLALUZ

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 12- JUSTICE

MR. JUAN JOBELLE ACOSTA

PRACTICAL RESEARCH, ADVISER
 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

The Modernization of Ilocano’s Fashion Industry: A way to

promote the unnoticed field of textiles

I. INTRODUCTION

INABEL, The Ilocano’s living treasure of all time. The hand woven textile

“INABEL” or more popularly known to many as “Abel ILOCO” has been through a lot

in the course of history. It has both gone through good and bad times but remained to be

the toughest living treasure of the ILOCANO’s of all time. INABEL fabric is a hand-

woven textile that is intimately connected to the people who create them. The tradition of

weaving is passed down from one generation to another along with the stories that

emerge from fabric’s patterns. The fabric itself is an expression of the culture, identity,

and history of the ancient Filipino often depicting the harvest of prosperity. The fabric is

present in all the key moments of a person’s life, often presented as a gift during birth, a

marriage, and a death.

Today, there are less INABEL weavers alive. Within a generation, the INABEL

tradition may vanish- unless we do something about it. It’s worth saving the treasures.

We live in an industrial world that values speed and efficiency, it is predisposed towards

convenience and mass market goods. We believe that there’s a great deal of good
 conveniences that comes with modernization but also, that there exists a delicate balance

that needs to be maintained.

Thus we the researchers want to design a collection around the INABEL fabric

because we wanted to create modern products that are infused with our identity as a

people, underscoring the belief that our heritage should not exist as an artefacts within a

museum but as a living fabric that follows threads of our lives. With the rise of

industrialization, the world has shifted dramatically towards factory- produced goods,

with prices dropping as quantities rise. We believe that there is a room in the cotemporary

world for artistic to be bragged and lovingly made.

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. What are the reasons of millennials for not appreciating the inabel products?

2. To what extent is the level of acceptability in the modernization of inabel

fabric?

3. What are the preferred modernized design of inabel fabrics to millennials?