Secret Sweaters, Public Promises, and a Year of Showing Up

There is a special kind of torture in having something you are really excited about and then letting it live in the someday pile.

For a long time, that was my pattern with Kilig Ko pieces. I would wait for the perfect moment. The perfect campaign, the perfect photos, the perfect rollout. Then months would pass, and this thing I loved so much still sat in a sample box, untouched by anyone except me.

This year, I decided I am done with that.

So instead of hiding ideas until they feel fully polished, I turned on the camera in my living room and started a new practice. Talking about unreleased Kilig Ko pieces out loud on YouTube first, even with no big launch yet. Just you, me, and some very real behind the scenes accountability, a kind of insider to my plans.

If you watched the unreleased the vlog, you already know the pattern I am trying to break.

For years, I kept telling myself I was just waiting for the right moment. I would say things like, “I will drop this once everything lines up.” That is exactly what happened with another mystery sweater I had made months ago. With no official collection and launch date. A supposed 'special' piece that's now just waiting on the sidelines because I was scared to let it be seen before it felt flawless.

Talking about these new pieces on YouTube is my way of choosing action instead of endless waiting.

YouTube is my cozy corner of the internet. It is where I can yap, process, and plan in long form. It feels like a living room catch up where I can say, “I have these pieces in the queue. I do not have it all figured out yet, but here is what I am dreaming of.” Once I say it out loud to you, it creates a deadline that I have to follow through.

These unreleased designs are truly first looks. Not even Instagram has seen them. Sharing them this way is my way of saying that I trust this community enough to invite you into the messy insider, and not just the polished end result.

Inside the vlog, the first piece I talk about is a zip up that feels like a love letter to a very specific childhood memory.

If you grew up with family trips back to the Philippines, you probably know the jacket I am talking about. On one of our early trips, my mom brought home this classic souvenir jacket. Loud colors, big flag, very easy to spot in a crowd. It was one of my first true Filipino pride pieces, and I barely wore it.

Back then, it did not feel cool to be openly, loudly Filipino. The jacket mostly lived as a souvenir in the closet. I loved that it existed, but I did not yet know how to carry that kind of pride on my body.

Now, that has shifted. I have multiple versions of that style because I love using them in content. More than that, I am finally at a place where wearing my heritage feels like protection and celebration at the same time. I want to be proud of my brown skin, my flat nose, the features that make me me. The clothes I design have become an extension of that healing.

This unreleased zip up takes that original memory and translates it into something I would actually reach for in my current wardrobe.

It is a knit zip sweater with a wavy zipper detail that gives a soft, almost coat like feeling. The Filipino sun and three stars are embroidered in a way that feels intentional without screaming vibrance. The back is simple, just Kilig Ko, with space to possibly embroider names later on. I wanted it to feel wearable both on an ordinary weekday and special occassions.

It still carries the same pride and brightness as that childhood jacket, only softened into a version that fits who I am now. Filipino pride that feels distinct, but also easy to style with the rest of your closet.

The second unreleased design is where I had to laugh at myself a little.

I get so focused on Filipino pride elements that sometimes I forget the most basic thing. The logo. People would ask, “Where did you get that?” and I would realize the piece did not even say Kilig Ko anywhere.

The truth is, I love my brand. It is an extension of my identity and of this mission to help you feel kilig for yourself. This logo reminds me of that feeling. So when customers started messaging me with, “Do you have this in your logo? I just love your logo,” it was such a quiet pat on the back that people are now also recognizing and loving my brand.

That is how this yellow and pink piece came to life. I wanted something that felt like literal kilig in clothing form. Bubbly, bright, a little bit playful. Colors that feel like butterfly feelings and excited energy.

Yellow and pink have been part of Kilig Ko since the early days, so it felt right to lean into them again. At the same time, this piece opened up a bigger conversation about femininity.

At one event, someone mentioned that they do not often see feminine Filipino clothing. A lot of what is out there leans neutral, streetwear, hoodies, shapes that feel more generic and masculine. She told me that the way I put a heart on the Filipino sun helped her feel seen in a way she was not used to.

That stuck with me.

I grew up being called a tomboy. My mom would tease me for being rowdy and always with the boys. For a long time, I avoided pink because it felt too girly. Too much of a box I did not want to be put into.

Now, I am slowly letting myself explore what feminine energy can look like on my own terms. This yellow and pink logo piece lives right in that tension. It is soft and bubbly without erasing the parts of me that have always been louder, rougher around the edges. It is a way to say, “I can enjoy this color and this softness, and it still belongs to me.”

The third piece in the vlog is a sweater that feels like a wearable postcard.

Both of my parents are from the Bicol region, home to Mayon volcano. When we were younger, we actually visited Mayon. Those memories sit in the back of my mind like an old photograph. Beautiful, a little far away, still shaping how I understand where I come from.

Recently, I picked up a small ritual of grabbing postcards on trips and mailing them out. When I went to Yosemite, I collected postcards, wrote little notes, and sent them off. There is something tender about writing a message, dropping it in a box, and trusting that it will land in someone else’s hands later.

That practice turned into the idea for this Bicol sweater.

On the front, you see Mayon with the word “Mayon” hidden in cursive inside the smoke. On the back, you get postcard style lines and “Bicol, Philippines,” with space for a custom message. It is like a wearable letter to yourself or someone you love.

For me, it is another step in learning more about Bicol and the layers of my own heritage. Not in a textbook way, but in a personal, gentle way that fits into how I already live and dress.

Underneath all these designs is a bigger project. I want 2026 to be the year I learn how to launch things in a more intentional, repeatable way.

I am still figuring out what a full campaign even looks like. How many posts. What kinds of videos. Where the blog and newsletter fit. How far ahead I need to plan so that a drop feels thoughtful instead of rushed.

This unreleased designs vlog is part behind the scenes diary and part practice ground. I am using it to speak ideas out loud, set real timelines, and notice what a full campaign might require for each piece.

Right now, there are only a couple of you hanging out with me on YouTube. We could probably squeeze into my living room if we really tried (lol). The goal by the end of the year is a thousand subscribers. Just enough to feel like this little corner of the internet is growing at a pace that still feels human.

On Instagram, we have already seen what happens when you keep showing up even when things do not feel perfect yet. In less than two years, this community grew from under a thousand people to twenty five thousand. That still blows my mind.

So this blog, and these three unreleased pieces, are my way of saying I am willing to keep showing up before I have everything figured out. I am willing to let you see the drafts, not just the finished campaigns.

If any part of this blog or these designs tugged at something in you, I hope you let yourself follow that feeling. Maybe it is pride in your own heritage. Maybe it is curiosity about a hometown you are still learning to name. Maybe it is a reminder that your ideas deserve daylight even if they do not feel fully ready.

Watch the unreleased designs vlog, tell me which piece feels most like you, and think about one idea in your own life that has been sitting in the someday pile. Maybe this is your sign to bring it into the room and say it out loud too.

<3 Sarah