Inaul fabric attracts interest from foreign execs
by Ali G. Macabalang
Buluan, Maguindanao – Efforts for the revival of the vanishing Inaul fabric-weaving industry have gained momentum after representatives from the South Korea, United States, and Germany expressed keen interest in developing the traditional Muslim clothing material as part of this province’s eco-tourism development campaign.
This was disclosed by host officials of the just-concluded First Inaul Festival here were local executives engaged in socio-cultural and economic discussions with counterparts from Soutk Korea, US and Germany.
South Korean business leaders Lee Jong Young and Son Jung Kil, chairman of the Bogwang Innovation and Textile manufacturing company, met with local officials led by Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu on the eve of Tuesday’s culmination of the festival, and declared interest in adopting inaul fabrics in their global trade.
“We are impressed with the unique features of inaul textiles. We can absorb such fabrics in our production,” Kil told reporters covering their visit here.
In another meeting here Monday, lawyer Kristin Bangot, a Filipina heading a youth development foundation which has American partners, told host festival officials that her group has already acquired samples of the inaul fabric for showcase at an international women’s gathering in New York in April.
She told reporters that the samples, including some of the inaul gowns worn by Miss Universe candidates in their side tour in Davao City last month, also impressed some US White House officials.
Based on initial plans, Bangot said, the inaul samples will be brought to the White House for presentation after the New York event.
Bangot came here with Kristine Evangelista, who took photos and video footages of inaul-making dynamics and displays of related dresses to New York and Portugal festivals.
Bai Ayesha M. Dilangalen, regional tourism secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said she will lead a delegation to showcase samples inaul at a global convergence in Berlin, Germany next month.
“Like other foreign designers, some people in Berlin have shown interest in the inaul products after the global show of the 65th Miss Universe,” Dilangalen said.