Piña Futures draws inspiration from a seminal work on Piña that was written by FEU Chair Emeritus Dr. Lourdes R. Montinola.

FEU Publications formally launched its new book Piña Futures: Weaving Memories and Innovations on February 28, 2023 at the multi-purpose hall of the FEU Administration Building. The book was done in collaboration with HABI: The Philippine Textile Council and written by Dr. Randy Madrid, edited by Rhona Lopa-Macasaet, and designed by Felix Mago Miguel.

The book draws inspiration from a seminal work on Piña that was written by FEU Chair Emeritus Dr. Lourdes R. Montinola. Piña Futures brings the reader to where it started. From an artisanal textile in Aklan’s countryside, it eventually became the foremost commodity in the Central Philippine textile trade, which made Iloilo the “Textile Capital of the Philippines” in the nineteenth century. It is a testament to the ongoing effort to preserve, promote, and popularize piña as the “Queen of Philippine Fabrics.”

About the book

“Piña Futures: Weaving Memories and Innovation” is a quintessential sourcebook, which offers new perspectives of looking at the sartorial development of an island textile as an artisanal fabric, a trade commodity, a garment of honor and identity, and a treasure of the world. This book is informative, instructive, and illustrative as it demonstrates the step-by-step process in the making of piña: from the scraping and stripping of fiber to weaving and embellishing of the fabric. It also discussed traditional and innovative techniques in piña weaving and post-weaving decorative works. Above all, it presents mundane possibilities that guarantee piña’s sustainability and perpetuity in the future through diverse art expressions and platforms.

“I am proud to see that after two decades, another book has come to fruition. Piña Futures: Weaving Memories and Innovations honors the piña cloth’s past, present, and future. It celebrates the history and the promise of design possibilities,” said Dr. Lourdes R. Montinola, FEU Chair Emeritus

“This book will show piña’s many chapters of development, including its present state. It is still a treasure of a fabric and still involves demanding production steps. And in a world of technology where artifice imitates Nature, it is the real thing, a natural fiber made into a natural fabric,” according to Maribel Ongpin, HABI Chairman and Founder.