MANILA -- The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt every industry, including fashion, as people stay in their homes and go into survival mode.

Rajo Laurel, Patty Ang, and Niña Corpuz opened up about their struggles as designers and entrepreneurs in a webinar by Go Negosyo on Thursday, saying that COVID-19 has pushed them to adapt and innovate.

Corpuz, who is also a host on ABS-CBN's Teleradyo, said she shifted to making face masks out of premium inabel fabric to address the needs of the market.

• Nina Corpuz adds fashion designer to resume

"We took a hit," she admitted. "I mean, suddenly you think about, 'Ano ba talaga ang kailangan ko sa buhay? Hindi ko naman pala kailangan ng lahat ng ito, di ba?' Di mo kailangang magsuot ng mamahaling damit, lalo na sa panahon ngayon na ang iniisip mo kailangang protektado ka."

The founder of Nina Inabel went on: "Dahil sa mga pangyayari, one thing led to another. I was able to recognize a need, something that the market needed during this time that I acted upon, and these are face masks... It started as a donation, hindi ko siya pinlanong ibenta. Pero nagkaroon ng need so I just acted and pivoted from selling high-value clothes to mas kaunting customers, to selling more masks to more customers."

Similarly, Ang said the uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic has prompted her to reassess and look at what people are currently looking for.

So far, she is considering creating "comfortable" wear and embracing e-commerce for her namesake label.

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"We have to really innovate and see and collect all the data. Data is the key, actually, to know what the next step is. We need to see what we have to offer people," she said.

"Like for me, 'Magbibihis pa ba tayo now?' We don't get to dress up anymore so what can I offer my clients? For me it's more of comfortable -- of course, still attractive -- but we want to be reasonable right now. We want to offer people the comfort in their homes, but reasonable and sustainable."

Unlike Corpuz and Ang who have smaller teams, Laurel had a bigger challenge of retaining his 550 employees under his fashion empire.

He said that while fashion is not considered an "essential" industry, it still is an important part of the Philippine economy as it involves more than 2 million employees.

"It was very difficult for us primarily because I had to really think about my priorities and my family. It's a family-run business. I have 550 employees that I'm responsible for, so lahat 'yun nakasalalay sa amin. So kailangan talaga naming gumawa ng paraan para mabuhay ang mga 'yan," he said.

"I've researched and at the moment, it (fashion industry) actually employs more than 2,750,000 Filipinos... We are essential in terms of building that particular ecosystem of an industry, no matter how big or small we are," he added.

Aside from alternating work shifts to accommodate all employees, Laurel has also made adjustments to his factory and boutiques to comply with health and safety guidelines.

"At the moment, only 40% of our employees are able to work. Pagkatapos, nagsu-switching pa kami. In other words, dalawang linggo isang grupo, pagkatapos dalawang linggo ibang grupo naman," he said.

The designer continued: "We also had to disinfect our factory, we had to rearrange it na medyo malayo-layo ang mga makina... Mahirap ding mag-fitting nang 'di namin sila nahahawakan, so katakot-takot na learning ang ginawa namin."

Despite the struggles, Laurel was able to successfully mount a virtual fashion show for his latest collection.

• Rajo Laurel mounts first virtual fashion show

"With regards to the fashion show, nakakatuwa at nakakasaya dahil ginawa namin 'yun para sa aming komunidad para makipag-ugnayan. A way to reach out na, 'Uy, buhay pa po kami.' We may be done, but we're not out, in other words," he said.

When asked about the direction of the local fashion industry given the pandemic, Laurel said it would be dependent on how people will work together to support local products.

"I think what we should do is look back kung paano kunyari naging successful ang Japan. After the second world war, essentially Japan was cut off from the rest of the world. They worked within their ecosystem and created a very strong economy based on themselves. My wish and my dream is to have that particular mindset of truly loving our country," he said.

"When we say loving our country, that means sa isip, sa puso, sa salita, at higit sa lahat sa gawa," he went on. "Tangkilikin natin ang sariling atin at isipin natin kung paano tayo makakapagtulong-tulong."

Laurel then called on the government to mandate the use of locally made personal protective equipment in hospitals and elsewhere to provide livelihood to fashion businesses in the country.

"I had a conversation with some congressman, [I told him to] mandate it. Lahat sana ng PPE na ginagamit sa ating ospital ay galing sa Pilipinas. 'Wag na tayong mag-import. Bakit natin tutulungan ang mga ibang bansa? Tulungan natin ang mga sarili nating manufacturers. Mandate it that the government will use all the resources that are there in front of us," he said.

"Why are they importing all of these masks? Why are they waiting for all of these imported goods when we are here hungry? Sabihin niyo sa amin [na gumawa kami ng mask], mananahi kami. Hindi kami uurong. Tatanggapin namin ang lahat ng trabaho, maliit o malaki. Basta bigyan niyo kami ng trabaho at gagawin naming lahat," he ended.