PUBLISHING DATE: JULY 2016
(Cover story - original submission)
MACKY FAH MAKES A HABITABLE HOME
Just as the reticence settled in the dark hours, Macky Fah is up and primed for a long drive. At two in the morning, she’s heading to the outskirts of the city in search of unfamiliar peaks. “I caught the bug last year when I did a hike. I just loved the idea of being outdoors and finding different mountains. I try to get people into it,” tells Macky. It’s been a monthly ritual since for this jewelry designer and entrepreneur. At this point in her life, Macky reveals how this kind of connection, to nature, communities, and her craft, have dictated her perspectives, even at her own home.
Macky, in her very essence, is a cosmopolitan. Having lived in different cities across the globe, she finds a home wherever she seeds herself, hankering for that innate affinity in the things she does. “If you asked [me these questions] years ago, I would have given you different answers. It’s just different for me now in my 30s.” And the contrast lies in the familiarization. Even when traveling, she prefers rooting herself in local culture, often staying at a family or friend’s place and discovering the destination as locals would. She’s hiked Yosemite, sampled the most precious seafood in San Fransisco’s century-old Swan Oyster Depot, and dined with New York actors and models for a restaurant pop-up in a warehouse in Brooklyn. “I enjoy exploring neighborhoods. It’s fun to see what’s out there. It also grounds the kids to see how others live. That’s how we try to live.”
Since she and her husband decided to come back to the Philippines, she found the kind of place she wants her family to associate home with in Ortigas. “A home should be comfortable. It should not feel unnatural. In the stage I’m in now, I know better not to get caught up on what should and shouldn’t be there. I get what I like. I follow my instincts. Whatever it is that I want to put there, I do, and it’s not necessarily what’s on trend,” Macky says. From inherited antiques and artworks mingled with her penchant for local home finds, the hodge podge of things reflect her disposition. “I like it not so fixed or perfect. I want it a little unexpected and unique. Make it yours. [My home] is very well lived. Like if you see the couch, you know the kids sit on it.” In a gated village with about thirty homes, her condominium is just a few minutes from the busy metro north and just ten minutes away from her showroom in the Fort. “I call it little Pleasantville in the middle of the city. We know the neighbors. the kids can walk around or bike and we don’t have to go far for a park. It’s private,” she relates. Her expansive terrace garden grants her the view of the Fort, Makati, Valle Verde, Green Meadows, and Eastwood. But seeing her kids use it for play makes it even more worth it. She spends a chunk of her day in the kitchen or her children’s bedroom. “I do like to cook, and my younger one has food allergies. So I spend time cooking what’s good for her. I hang out in my kids’ rooms because there I get to see them, what they’re doing, or just watch them even when they sleep. There’s this purity and air of no worries. It’s always light when I’m in their room and surroundings,” Macky says.
It’s also in the Philippines where she kindled the passion for jewelry crafting she at no time before regarded as a fascination. The fateful encounter happened in Switzerland where her husband’s family of jewelers and she learned the art. She then came home and established BijouxFäH Maker of Jewellry. “To be able to wear the art, to make something for someone you know will be appreciated and worn, that makes me happy. [A client] recently told me I got her to a tee, and it’s [times like these when it] hits me that I love what I do,” she enthuses. And her deep appreciation for the product’s inception, from idea down to creation, transcends the fancy for fashion. “I find inspiration in my surroundings. At one point it was architecture. Now it’s about cleaner lines, basing it on the stones and figuring out how they would shine and be the star. When I hike, I can see how lovely the surroundings are. I love the foliage and it shows in my jewelry. My favorite color is green, even my packaging is green. It’s something that’s so natural and beautiful.” The act of creation is as enchanting for her, too. She describes how making jewelry is not at all pretty. Working closely with goldsmiths, the execution, shaping, stones setting, and the polishing is a telling experience of how an exquisite result can come from elements so crude.
The same perception shows with FäE All Natural Products as well, a line of organic scented candles and soaps she happened upon while with child and on a short break from her jewelry business. “Whenever I get pregnant, I just enjoy being pregnant. I want to feel the growing baby inside me. At one point, I could smell everything. I would buy all these candles. I love them. There are so many good brands and I started collecting a lot of them. My husband [quipped] that it costs a lot to keep the house smelling good, and he suggested that I just make it.” It was a timely idea as her family was battling different allergies, so forming a brand established on quality and all natural components weren’t merely marketing gambits. Sustainability is a factor Macky doesn’t take lightly, imparting how her exposure to the outdoors incites her and her family’s desire to recycle more. In her own way, she encourages her clients with a 10% discount for returning and reusing FäE All Natural Products candle glasses. “I like keeping it natural. That’s how the vegan soaps and candles came about. They’re from organically made essences. I found the best beeswax to use for allergies, and it’s also because I couldn’t find it [commercially]; so I made it. The hobby project became a business, and I’m happy with the way it is.”
This grasp on the kinship of self to the environment and to others is entrenched in her metropolitan background and her role as a mother. “Now with kids, I’m learning how to feel with certain things. Even with business. I may not have all the answers, and that’s okay. It’s about being proud of everything that you do. I’m trying to live my life the way I like my kids to live their lives. It’s about respect for who you work with, respect with who we deal with every day, and respect for the environment where we get everything from.” This continual act of habituation makes Macky Fah’s home and businesses honest and unassuming without lacking esteem; traits we hold onto so dearly in a world that’s slowly disconnecting from the essentials of life — relationships with mankind and nature.
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