Allena

For almost three decades the knitters of Nooks have been loyal to their craft. Having served as  suppliers for export brands in the US and Europe for majority of these years,  the  founders Elsie Standen, Emi Daniel and Odie Atienza felt it was time to build their own label.

Allena became a brand that not only created a fully knitwear line but also embraced all the elements of creating textile – immersing in fiber sources such as cotton, waste pineapple leaves and bamboo; spinning by hand and by machine; dyeing chemically and naturally. These resulted in innovations and shared advocacies with like-minded organizations.

But as knitters, their skills also evolved from manual to CAD operated Knitting machines and these meant having the ability to create beautiful textile and products that are unique only to Allena. The Legacy collection of patterns with geometric designs merged with vibrant colors have become the brand’s calling card.

Because of the Philippines’ tropical climate,  Allena’s  Creative Director Elsie  focused on comfort and breathability. The Allena R&D developed fabric innovations that have these qualities and are also surprisingly lightweight. These characteristics were all applied in making the apparel, home and accessories lines of the brand.

As most brands, Allena knows that it belongs to an industry that is moving towards circularity.  Full Stop is a line of accessories and tray art that is made of single-use plastics collected within a small community. Full Stop is a hope that the endless recycling cycle ends with one product that is  beautiful enough to be owned, passed on or gifted. This way the plastics will no longer end up in landfills or in the ocean.

Allena knows that it is impossible to tick all the boxes but also continues every day to make small changes in how their products are made. Perhaps in the future, the Legacy patterns and the Full Stop concept will also find an audience who would say they appreciate the efforts made by artisans of this generation.