SAN LORENZO, CA — The Golden State Warriors will face the Utah Jazz tonight at Oracle Arena and it will mark the first of two Filipino Heritage Nights this season.
The special event tonight will include a pregame tailgate, among other festivities. The second Filipino Heritage Night will be held on March 6, 2015 against the Dallas Mavericks.
Special community groups that bought tickets in bulk will receive a free t-shirt upon entry into #Roaracle. Tonight’s t-shirt was designed by Mike Liwanag of Savs Brand, a local apparel company based in San Lorenzo, just hop, skip, and a jump from Oracle.
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According to Liwanag, “Savs” comes from an old slang term for “savage”, which he defines as someone who gets what he or she wants or needs, by any means necessary.
“The qualities of pride, loyalty, drive and grit perfectly describe what being a ‘Sav’ is all about,” said Liwanag. “This brand is a visual representation of who we are and how we live. The Savs Chief Skull graphic is the first of many graphics we will use to emulate the essence of our brand.”
Liwanag said the skull logo represents culture as well as being misunderstood, and having the power that comes from turning something once viewed as negative into a positive movement, similar to the term “savage” itself.
And while Liwanag is himself of Filipino descent, “The SAVS Brand is comprised of individuals from various ethnic backgrounds, a couple of which are Filipino. We have relationships with many Filipinos in the Bay Area through basketball leagues, and other public events.”
The Warriors were introduced to Liwanag through a mutual business partner. Liwanag’s name came up in a discussion and it turned out that a number of Warriors employees already knew about SAVS Brand. He was then asked to come up with the design for this year’s Filipino Heritage Night.
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“While working on this design, we didn’t want to do the obvious thing and make the Philippine sun and stars the centerpiece for the design concept,” explained Liwanag. “Although it is included, we wanted the primary focus to be on the Warriors and secondarily the Filipino heritage. We included the Utak, which is a Filipino blade. We also added palm fronds which are native to the Philippine Islands.
“It is an honor to be invited to design the shirt for the Warriors’ biggest special event of the season. We really wanted to create a design that Filipino Warrior fans can have pride in wearing. Pride in their team. Pride in their Heritage. The opportunity to work with the hottest NBA team in the league has been amazing. We are grateful and humbled by this experience.”
SAVS Brand can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and their corporate website.
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