Negros Nine Weavers: The Hands Behind CHICKS x Get Spotted
· Get Spotted
What a truly meaningful trip. Thank you, Cong. Mercedes Alvarez (@chedz_alvarez), for taking the time to bring us here and for introducing us to this beautiful world. 🥹❤️
I have so many photos and videos to share: moments that show just how meticulously each fabric is woven, how every thread carries time, patience and love.
As a brand owner, it means so much to meet the people behind every creation. Not just the weave, but the heart that makes it possible. To know that by growing my business I am also helping sustain their livelihood: that makes all the work worth it.
Who are the Negros Nine Weavers?
The Negros 9 Kabankalan Weaving Community works from a wooden weaving centre in Sitio Bantolinao, Barangay Oringao, high in the mountains of Kabankalan City in southern Negros Occidental. The weavers were organised by the late Columban priest Fr. Brian Gore together with members of the community, as a livelihood that gives families a fair and steady income.
The name has history. Fr. Gore was one of the original "Negros Nine": three priests and six lay workers arrested in Kabankalan in 1983 on charges that were dropped in 1984. He stayed in Negros and kept working with the poor for the rest of his life, and this weaving community is part of that work.
The community is known for its weave designs and colour palettes, and works on 4-shaft and 8-shaft looms, weaving not only plain cloth but also twill, overshot and huckaback weaves. In 2017 the group partnered with Creative Definitions, which helps with product development and marketing, and from nine weavers the Negros 9 has grown to 13.
CHICKS x Get Spotted
CHICKS stands for Candoni, Hinobaan, Ilog, Cauayan, Kabankalan and Sipalay, the small cities and municipalities in the south of Negros Occidental. CHICKS x Get Spotted is our collaboration with this area and its weavers: the first collection launched in Bacolod in September 2024, with handwoven fabric from the Negros 9 weavers, and later travelled with us all the way to Paris.
Excited to share our #ChicksxGetSpotted Collection 2, crafted with these very fabrics, launching at the 39th Negros Trade Fair, Himbon, at the SMX Convention Center Aura in Taguig, September 23–28, 2025.
Woven with the people behind it
At the heart of EMGEE by Get Spotted is a story that begins long before a garment is worn. It begins in Kabankalan (CHICKS), Negros Occidental, Philippines, where the Negros Nine Weavers continue a tradition that has been passed down for generations. Their looms do not simply produce fabric: they carry with them memory, resilience, and the quiet dignity of artisans who have built their lives around craft.
Each piece we create is more than clothing. It is the sum of hours spent at the loom, of threads carefully intertwined, of patterns shaped by patience and precision. Every weave reflects the artistry of a community and the heritage of a culture that refuses to be forgotten.
By choosing EMGEE by Get Spotted, you choose to be part of this story. You help sustain families who depend on their craft, protect a livelihood that defines their community, and ensure that the art of weaving continues to thrive in a world that often overlooks traditions.
We believe fashion should go beyond surface and style. It should be purposeful: an act of preserving culture, empowering artisans, and weaving hope for the future. This is the vision behind EMGEE by Get Spotted: clothing that tells a story worth carrying, and a legacy worth wearing.
Slow fashion. Proudly Pinoy.
Sources: Negros Season of Culture: "Weaving Through Negros" by Mike Claparols (2020), Daily Guardian: "CHICKS weavers shine in sustainable fashion" (2024), Brigada News: "Persistent local weavers carry Kabankalan looms forward" (2025), Wikipedia: Niall O'Brien (priest), Daily Guardian: Negros Trade Fair 2025