By: John Fritzgerald Lustre and Jherese Mendoza
ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA—Kapampangans, especially in this generation, often show their character through tees and fashionable clothing. Thus, when it comes to trends, as they say, Kapampangans in millennials’ term, are always “on-fleek!”. Entrepreneurs then take this as an opportunity to produce different Kapampangan-related clothing styles which are being recognized and patronized by Kapampangan millennials.
Different Kapampangan artists around Pampanga arise because of their exemplified talents and skills, honoring their love for their heritage. One of them is Jed Lalu from Angeles City. He is an owner of a physical store that sells customized Kapampangan-inspired merchandises which portray the culture of Kapampangan people.
“It’s not just about gaining profit, but rather reminding the young Kapampangans to learn the culture and speak the language while staying on trend,” as stated by Lalu when asked about his goal for creating such art.
With this, students from various schools are its main consumers. These young ones stay in fashion line, as they help in rebuilding and preserving the love for Kapampangan language.
According to Lalu, observation and conversation with different people is the key to come up with well-conceptualized designs and ideas. “I explore the Kapampangan words as much as I can twist them and create them into a design spoof which people can easily relate to,” he added.
Truly, the percentage of Kapampangans who speak the language tends to fall through the years. Some of the youth in this generation are no longer familiar with some of the Kapampangan words or phrases.
“With the help of visual communication and graphic design, the Kapampangan language will continue to help and remind people, especially the younger generations, not to take the culture for granted because it is what they are made of,” he ended.
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