To my beautiful children, Mercy and Lucio,

Growing up in the U.S, the connection to my Filipino heritage had always felt fragmented, delayed, waiting to be rediscovered over time.

For me, that connection has come through fishing. Through water, weather, patience, repetition, and long days outside. Learning how the environment shapes the way we move, what we carry, and how we endure. In that way, fishing became more than a pastime. It became a way of getting closer to something older than me, something cultural, even if it was never handed to me in a complete or direct form.

From the start, the focus has been on utility, protection, and ease. Lightweight layers. Breathable fabrics. Purposeful construction. Pieces meant to handle long days outdoors without feeling overbuilt, performative, or disconnected from real use.

But Pagira was never only about function. It also comes from memory, heritage, and the quiet textures of where my family comes from. Not in a way that turns culture into costume, and not in a way that forces symbolism onto every piece. Instead, those influences live in the details, in the patterns, in the structure, and in the feeling. Present, but restrained.

Today, Pagira continues to explore outerwear and fieldwear through a humid-first lens, shaped by solar exposure, coastal conditions, mobility, and everyday endurance.

That combination between utility and heritage became the foundation of Pagira. So, what began as a search for functional fishing wear, became a way of connecting to something deeper.

No matter where the current takes you, you’ll always be my kids.

Love,
Dad.