451. Merry Crispa’s! CRISPA REDMANIZED KNITWEAR, 1962

MERRY CRISPA'S!, Print ad, 1962

The best holiday gift that CRISPA brought to the Philippines in 1948 were its “shrunk-to-fit” shirts and underwear that were soon to become the country’s most popular men’s wear in the 1970s-80s decades. The brand CRISPA was derived from the combined names of founders, Pablo and Crisanta Floro, an enterprising husband-and-wife team who sold their cotton products in their shop, and distributed them to leading department stores nationwide.

MERRY CRISPA'S! 1962 Ad

The CRISPA fabric materials were subjected to a unique “Redmanization” process, which made the cotton stable, and shrink-resistant, even after washing. The early products included T-shirts, both round and V-necked;  briefs, with imported waistband, and rib sando.

With its main retail store in Makati, CRISPA became a byword in the 70s, and gained further fame and reputation when the Floro son, Valeriano “Danny” Floro organized a basketball team in 1956 that first participated in the Business Athletic Association, a minor league. The CRISPA Redmanizers would rise to become a multi-titled Filipino basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1984.

REDMANIZED, SHRUNK-TO-FIT, Print Ad, 1963

By the late 80s, the CRISPA business declined, leading the Floros to stop manufacturing CRISPA knitwear and to the disband the basketball team. In 2020, Danny Floro’s grandchildren revived the Crispa brand with the launch of a new T-shirt line, under VNF and Sons, Inc.

SOURCES:

Crispa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispa_(clothing_brand)

Crispa Redmanizers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispa_Redmanizers