How this vitamin brand’s artisan clothing collab highlights Filipino tradition

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Propan’s recent campaign efforts highlight the brand’s reliability in supplementing children’s daily nutritional needs. Propan TLC tends to children’s appetites so it can help mothers, children, and doctors in providing care. And in a country where food is central to many social activities, Propan TLC takes on a primary role in the picture.

Propan TLC’s senior product manager RJ Tangan says their objective is focused on helping Filipino families, particularly mothers, across the country. “[Mothers are the] primary representation of their love and care for their family [and] being “magana” is the first step for their kids to be healthier, grow and develop well,” Tangan, who is also a father, says in an interview.

The campaign is meant to celebrate the people in the frontlines: the company employees, mothers, and people who make conscious efforts to improve others’ lives. For Tangan, their initiative also helps customers to recognize Propan as something more than just a product. Tangan says that Propan has “an active role in helping our customers translate their passion (or gana) for the things they love doing and do best.”

In line with this thrust, the brand partnered with Rags2Riches, an artisanal social initiative brand known for advocating local weaving communities.

“Propan wanted this [campaign] to be more than just a symbol and wanted a wearable representation of their values that their team members could proudly wear,” says R2R founder, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz. The partnership includes a limited edition Propan x R2R shirt. Inspired by the binakol weaves of the Itneg Tribe of Northern Luzon, the pattern captures the spirit of generational practice and continuing culture, showcasing what it means to pass on Filipino tradition in modern times.

The Propan x R2R collaboration is an homage to people in the frontlines, especially within Propan. The early days of the pandemic saw the company providing free allocation of the multivitamins to their own team members as a show of concern, as their mindset is anchored on helping before anything else. On the other hand, the past 15 years has seen R2R forming collaborations with artisans, most of whom are mothers, from various communities across Metro Manila.

Earlier in the pandemic, Propan came up with a “Moms helping moms” campaign that urged Filipino mothers to celebrate one another. “[The campaign] was aligned to the insight that moms seek the help of their fellow moms with regards to health decisions about their children and family.” Recognizing Propan as a bridge between mothers, the goal was to empower customers to heal one another, through shared compassion and concern for their loved ones and in spite of their differences, all the while alleviating affected communities and individuals.

For both Propan and Rags2Riches, it’s all about making the daily lives of Filipinos better, by bringing families together through nurture, nourishment, and novelty. Both names share parallel values of nurturing families and helping them live their best lives, especially mothers.

The brand’s efforts are both a salute and a remuneration to mothers and by promoting Propan, it’s somehow an opportunity to “pay it forward, by promoting a product that can help them care for their families," says Tangan. And as we start off a brand new year, Propan’s initiatives serve as a reminder to everyone of something invaluable and nostalgic: family is not just the people, it’s also our culture.

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