There’s something happening to the way we get inspired. Across the design game, inspiration is turning inward. More and more, Filipino brands are finding new creative territory in the familiar, looking twice at the places, experiences, and details that make up our everyday. For HÁYO, that familiarity is where the creativity starts.
Evita Miraflor is the one-woman team behind HÁYO, an attuned and playful project that is part footwear, part storytelling. Launched in March of 2025, HÁYO is moving Marikina craft forward with fresh takes on the Filipino experience with every new drop. In this CLAVEL feature, we spoke to Evita on tapping into inspirations and bringing new life to a time-honored industry.
With a design and crafting process based locally, HÁYO’s handiwork and concept are kept entirely close to home. “It has to call you before you actually wear them. It’s not the other way around, kasi it’s not something that’s straight out of Pinterest,” A graduate of Fine Arts and Industrial Design, Evita doesn’t get her inspo from an algorithm. “It actually has a story and then its design complexity. It’s not something that will please everyone. Kung sino yung mga taong nagreresonate with it I think yun yung mga nagiging target ko.”
While a cult-favorite among Manila creatives, HÁYO is really a love letter to the provinces. Their debut collection, Isla, was a line of easygoing lifestyle footwear devoted to the archipelago’s coastlines. The brand’s second drop, Dulce, put the spotlight on the local chocolate industry with an elevated reimagining of the Mary Jane sneaker, dressed in silk and suede as sweet as candy. And for the urban folk that need a break from city living, HÁYO’s got you with Siesta, their latest capsule collection launched just this May.
What powers HÁYO is Marikina craftsmanship done right. And the difference there is dignity: the city’s world-class shoemakers are made partners in Evita’s process, not tokens or a gimmick for marketing. And it’s this genuine love for local that makes HÁYO great. But the future of this craftsmanship is being tested. Evita laments the art of shoemaking dying out. “Wala nang younger generation na gustong magmana ng craft. So, with HÁYO I… I do think na yun din yung gusto namin i-push na this craft is really cool.” Always having wanted to make shoes herself, Evita hopes to draw younger creatives back to the industry. The vision is simple: to make something new with the craft, so a new generation can see themselves making something with it, too.
Filipino excellence is having a big moment in culture right now. HÁYO reminds us that greatness worth celebrating can be found in smaller wonders all over the archipelago. Evita recalls trips to San Vicente and starry skies in Quezon Province (her hometown) that inspired some of her best designs. “Diba, whenever we go home alam mo yung feeling…. Minsan hindi na yung lugar yung na-fefeel mo. It’s the people, it’s the experience, it’s the stillness. So, that’s the main inspiration for siesta. It’s rest.”
We love HÁYO for showing up for the culture, too. Their capsule launch at Saglit Coffee was a great example of this, bringing together sound selectors Shosho and Steve Hansen with local creatives like Mina Asul for a night of good music and good company.
Three drops in a year and residency at PURVEYR Plaza, HÁYO has been busy. In a letter on the brand’s website, Evita outlines her big goal for HÁYO: to represent Filipinos on the global sneaker stage. “It’s just that…telling stories that every Filipino could resonate to.” For HÁYO, it all links back to culture. And that commitment to embracing the stories rooted at home is the key to move us forward.
words by Hannah Manuel
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