00:00Hi, I'm Glyce Vitulan, I'm the Managing Director of Zapateria.
00:29The founders of Zapateria, Eunix, is a fifth generation shoemaker.
00:35She hails from a long line of shoemakers here in Marikina City.
00:41So their family started being part of the shoe industry since its founding in 1887.
00:47In 2016, Eunix's father, a fourth generation shoemaker and designer, Rico Santana,
00:55got into an accident. He survived that accident, but it sparked an epiphany on Eunix that
01:02after her dad, nobody else will continue this heritage of craft in their family.
01:08That's why she put up Zapateria.
01:14Marikina is the Philippine shoe capital. Since the 1950s, we've had our prime.
01:19Sometimes when you ask somebody, when you think of Marikina,
01:23what's the first thing that comes to mind? It's often the shoes.
01:26Hyper focusing on the community or the industry of shoemaking,
01:31despite common notions that it's a declining one, it's actually well thriving.
01:37There are more manufacturers and shoemakers now than there were 10 years ago,
01:42and that is greatly due to the efforts of our local city government
01:47and private organizations that have been pushing for more people to be part of it.
01:54Unfortunately, the reality still stands in terms of our craft.
01:58Our artisans are aging, and a lot of their expertise are going with them as they pass on.
02:07That's why on our end, in Zapateria, we want to ignite that sense of creativity and ingenuity
02:13on the younger folks so that they will be immersed in this culture, learn from the people who spent
02:20decades or almost majority of their lives doing this craft so that we can pave a better future for it.
02:30I suppose the vision of Zapateria is to really bring Filipino footwear out into the world.
02:37When we were starting out, our founder had a shift in mindset as well because
02:43having being brought up in a family that is into footwear, being exposed to Filipino
02:48footwear, knowing its pitfalls and its climbs and everything,
02:52she would often find herself comparing the Philippines to China.
02:56Like, why can't we be the next China and, you know, maximize manufacturing?
03:01Or why can't we be the next Italy making designer high-end footwear?
03:07And when she started mingling with these artisans, talking to them, learning about their craft,
03:14it started a thinking process or philosophy and a goal that why can't we be the first
03:20Philippines and bring Filipino footwear and our creations out into the world?
03:25And perhaps our own locals would learn to appreciate it more and find love or rather a soulmate
03:34for our shoes out there, make it their day, make it their, you know, their most prized possessions.
03:39Because for us as makers, our creations, they are more than just something that we
03:46make on the production line. At the end of it, once it's boxed and sold to somebody,
03:51we want that pair of shoes to be part of their story.
03:55So we want our Filipino creations to be part of the world's story.
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