As Winston Churchill once famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” With two months left in 2020, we are taking inspiration from Dusters of Manila co-founders and sisters Corinna Vistan-Takahasi & Lana Vistan on turning challenging situations into springboard for creativity and innovation. As people stayed more at home, and only leaving the house for a quick errand or two, a business idea that was originally born out of discomfort, became an instant quarantine hit.
1. What was your inspiration for setting up Dusters of Manila?
I came home from the United States last year only to find myself overheating and sweaty most of the time. Jeans and a lot of the clothes I packed made me feel hot and uncomfortable. I rummaged through my mom’s closet and found a duster. I immediately understood why our Lola’s love wearing these. They’re so cool and comfy!
The concept behind our brand was to modernize the idea of dusters. We always relate dusters to something our lolas or moms would wear. We wanted to create dusters that our generation can use and as something we can wear both in and out of the house.
2. What do you think sets it apart from other loungewear brands?
There are a lot of people that sell dusters but we would like to think we sell re-imagined dusters. They’re not the usual traditional dusters that you find. With that, we tend to go for cuts, fabrics and prints that are both refreshing for our weather yet stylish enough to go out in.
3. What is it like to work with your sister?
I’m very close to my sister, always have been even when I was away living in another country for 15years. Now that I’m back, we’re still very close. We know each other so well, we know our strengths and specialities. We trust each other to do our assigned tasks.
4. What is your advice for women who are struggling to adjust to the new normal?
Hang in there! This year is not easy for anybody but it’s important to remember that you’re never alone. We’re all in this together, building a resiliency during these uncertain times. We’ll rise out of it, stronger and wiser than who we were as people at the start of this year.
