Hi, my name is Edmond Hawi, I am a sous chef. I have been in the hospitality industry for five years. As of January 2026, I graduated from East Stroudsburg University with a Bachelor of Science  in Exercise Science. Although I am not a chef by profession, my aspiration is to obtain a Masters Degree from the University of Oregon in the near future. I want to be a designer.

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THE PROBLEM

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As a new sous chef at Little Noonas in Philadelphia, PA, I was faced with a problem. Cooks didn't own their own "Mandiles". What is a mandil? That was my first problem. Mandil is apron in Spanish. Since cooks didn't own their own aprons, the company supplied them with generic black aprons. The aprons consisted of low quality material, they strained the necks and backs of cooks throughout their shift, and they were not reusable. These aprons are synonymous across the board in the hospitality industry. All the restaurants use them. In addition, the supplier never delivered enough aprons to last a whole week; therefore, when the inventory arrived cooks and chefs would take extra aprons and hide them. To make matters worse, I was still asked for an apron by a cook everyday.

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THE SOLUTION

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An idea emerged. Thinking as a designer and not a sous chef, I was able to find the inefficiency of the system. This was the door to walk through. In brief, the solution to this problem is to develop an apron for line cooks with a protective layer, while improving comfort, durability, reusability, and sustainability. Last but certainly not least, that is how "Mandilesx" was born in 2026.

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