#LifeLokal: Tayo Studio aims to bring size-inclusivity at the forefront
Clothes that actually fit our body and meet our needs is something that is still hard to find. This has been a common dilemma that fashion designer Yong Davalos discovered from her clients.
"I was inspired mainly by inclusivity because I had clients when I was doing custom designs, who would ask me, 'Oh, do you have ready-to-wear for girls for my size?' And I have a lot of those clients and I felt bad because their sentiments are valid but nobody's catering fashionable clothing that are readily available for them," she told PhilSTAR L!fe.
Thus, she created Tayo Studio in late 2019. Yong said she created a ready-to-wear brand that has a broader range of clothing sizes (from XS to 4XL) to make women feel that fashion is for everyone.
"Everyone should feel the same happiness that we feel through fashion," she said.
Tayo Studio aims to bring positivity and inclusivity through their clothing, proving that style does not have to be compromised no matter the size. They sell clothes that cater not only to different sizes, but personalities as well.
"You will really see the energy of someone loving life through our clothes. It's like a personality. When people try our clothes they [say] 'I can wear colors pala. I can try on this things pala. I thought it's not flattering for my size or for my height.'"
Continue reading below to know how Tayo Studio is normalizing different body shapes through their fashionable clothes.
What’s the story behind your brand’s name?
When we were creating the brand, I was looking for something that is very Filipino but at the same time, translates as inclusive. In Filipino "tayo" means "us" and "we." And I wanted to make women feel that they are included in this brand, that they are seen. No matter what shape, size, height or even their disposition in life that the Tayo clothes will fit them. It's also the most inclusive Filipino word there is.
How has your Filipino culture influence your brand values and identity?
We didn't necessarily put too much of Filipino sensibilities in the brand. We're still at the place where we're trying to create good quality clothing that is in an international standards, expert quality so we focus on that first.
But as a local brand we created something that values inclusivity and well thought of products. And I think being Filipino is the one that is instilled in the brand itself not in design sensibilities, but more of our values, our culture. It is definitely something that we practice inside the organization. It started through giving jobs to our people—that's actually why Tayo is created I just wanted for them to have a job during the pandemic, really.
How do you make your brand stand out from the rest?
First, it's about being genuine and being true to our advocacies. Creating that piece of happiness that empowers women globally.
Also, we create solutions for everyday dressing. If you have not chanced upon trying our clothes, you will see how flattering it is to a Filipino body once you try it out. And people start to get addicted to it because it's like it's it's solving a problem. Like it gives you shape, it flatters your figure, it's good for the Filipino height, it's not an international sizing standard. So if caters really to the Filipinos.
I also have a team of creatives. I have a team of designers working alongside me so we really create new stuff every quarter. It never gets boring in the office.
How would you describe your brand's aesthetic?
We have three different segment designers for Tayo brand catering to all different people, different personalities as well. You will really see the energy of someone loving life through our clothes. It's like a personality. When people try our clothes they [say] "I can wear colors pala. I can try on this things pala. I thought it's not flattering for my size or for my height."
But we have clothes— there are three segments kasi now especially this 2023 and we're making sure that people would know about these segments.
The Tayo signature, which is our signature girly, dainty, very sweet kind of girl. And we have the Collective, which is for the working women basically. It feels like for everyday but a little bit fashionable but very easy to wear and very flattering as well. And then we just came up with a new segment which is the Generation. Generation is basically for generation Alpha, Gen Z, and a little bit of millennials. So overall, the essence of the brand is just people who loves life, who loves to have fun.
We want to make sure that we not just use deadstock fabric, but the clothes will be kept in their closets for a long time.
Would you consider your brand as sustainable?
I've always said this before even during my fashion show days when asked about sustainability. Sustainability is very subjective. In what way are you sustainable?
Like for us we want to make sure that we not just use deadstock fabric, but the clothes will be kept in their closets for a long time. That to me is sustainable rather than having clothes that has poor quality materials or easily degradable.
So to me, sustainability is through quality and quality of the materials, and as much as possible using deadstock fabrics. Also one more sustainability by design, designing classic pieces that will really be in your closet for a good time. That's how I see us being sustainable overall.
How do you want your clients to feel when they're wearing your clothes?
This is across all of our brands. So we have a brand I have Yong Studio which is also ready to wear brand that caters to the higher market like let's say Class A like market A & B. But all across a brand we have one thing that we want your customers to feel. We want them to feel genuine happiness through our clothes. So we want them to feel joy—whether it's from looking good or feeling they belong in the fashion world because of our brand, ehether it's acceptance of their body. I honestly just want our customers to feel that they're happy because of our clothes. Because that's how I feel through fashion when I dress up and his wife doesn't like fashion it's very empowering anyone, customers or clients to feel the same.