Another culture I want to share with you, another way of living and especially many amazing crafts to be discovered. Vietnamese culture it's surprising and intriguing, as Asia more often can be, a mixture of Asian culture with French elements, simple people but a sophisticated society, welcoming families and skilled women and men in so many traditional crafts. This country is another piece of the Asian world that I've started to explore more than two years ago and I decided to share it, as MA RA MI is more about fashion and lifestyle, rather then only clothes, focused on world's nations and their traditions. More will follow, highlighting the lifestyle, fashion, concept of living.

Having the chance to start my academic career in no other country then The Philippines, it seemed to me the perfect excuse to add a new direction to my life. Or perhaps not totally new , but the same one in different clothes: more challenging, filled with great experiences, amazing people and discoveries. The selection of pics bellow is meant to illustrate some of the Philippino crafts I discovered in my travels, like embroidery techniques kept from the Spanish ancestors or "pina" and "abaca" handweaving. Just a few people there are struggling to keep this crafts alive, in a country touched by the same illness like the rest worldwide: the lost of its identity.

Imagine a country spreaded on over 7 000 islands, faraway in the Pacific Ocean... Let's say that only the sky changes minute by minute, from island to island, influencing every piece of life. Now imagine how many influences shaped over the centuries their culture. So it's the perfect place to start my adventure, to dip my inspiration in this amazing blend of cultures, lifestyle, crafts, emotions. I'll continue my exploration with South-East Asia and Middle East. But until then, some pics from Baguio city, the first place I discovered here with of my first amazing students. Enjoy!