A Fashion Encore!

Happy Andrada

Good and beautiful things, I believe, ought to be shared. Being on Facebook gives me the chance to expose the beautiful designs I witness in the many fashion parades that take place not only here in Manila, but outside of the city as well.

After a few years of doing this, I consider it now as my advocacy of sorts—to review and givie my two cents worth of commentaries on the many shows that I have seen. Quite a few marvel as to how I manage to spend practically entire days online—going on fashion marathons, if you will—just to view as many collections as possible scheduled during the fashion weeks. Yes, I myself am dumbfounded, but I conclude that fashion is like a potion to this erstwhile fashion apostle. 

Amateurish as a photographer as I may be, I document every fashion item brought forth by participating fashion designers with my trusty Nikon D90. These photos help me scrutinize the styles, techniques, and individual sensibility displayed on the runway as I repeatedly view them via my laptop upon reaching home.

While viewing the captured images, I get the chance to appreciate the littlest nuances that make one collection prettier or more hip than the next. Usually, this is when I get excited about writing my personal feelings regarding the plus and minus points of the creations. As an immediate result, I get stimulated to post my commentaries on my Facebook timeline, supported by the photographs I captured during the shows. 

My posted commentaries are widely awaited; but as we are all aware, Facebook can be quite ephemeral—now you see it, now you don’t. So I am taking this prime opportunity to run some of the memorable designs that may not have seen print during those seasons, when they spread magic atop some expertly illuminated runways.

From my personal archive, I picked out some collections that I consider memorable and worth sharing with dyed-in-the-wool fashion aficionados. To my mind, these interesting  collections are worth presenting. And to those who may have glimpsed them in a hasty manner, let these photos be some kind of an encore.

Let me start with the haute couture-like numbers from Jun Pugat. His masterful handling of piña-like fabrics that he hand-dyed or manually smudged with color are the perfect foil for his love of draping. The way he sculpted said fabrics to form free-flowing gowns deserves a second glance.  

With supreme metallics, Jaki Peñalosa came up with unusual silhouettes. The thin-as-air fabrics were draped so that they either hugged the body or flowed gracefully when the breeze allowed them to be airborne.Save for the openwork at the bib of the gown, Peñalosa’s numbers remained minimalist. The faint, almost-not-there silvery and golden hues of the silky fabrics made the numbers look so thrillingly novel. 

The pretty-as-a-model Happy Andrada presented a collection of garments so reminiscent of the design sensibility of the late Alexander McQueen. Her numbers were composed of extraordinary components never seen before—strips of horsehair, nets, and screens abstractly pieced together producing forms so strange and otherworldly. This young lady was more than successful in concocting unusual garments made even more forward-looking with the accessories and props (even a human skull) that became part of her fashion tableau.

One collection that will remain most memorable to the entire audience one afternoon in Philippine Fashion Week was the exceptional drama one participating designer did to shock the viewers. His clothes can be classified as bucolic or what was formerly branded as "island dressing." Aside from very natural and ethnic props, Noli Viñeza went an extra mile. His male model carried with him live—I repeat, live—a still struggling bunch of tilapia that stunned the onlookers.  

Tina Daniac’s design approach veers heavily on sophistication. Clutter is non-existent in Ms. Daniac's designs, but they have some elements that require the audience to take a second glance as the models rushed down the runway.

Menswear, likewise, materialized during fashion week. Undoubtedly my favorite creator of macho outfits is young designer Jinggo Inoncillo, a proficient practitioner of piecing together strips of fabrics giving the clothes some chutzpah and masculine élan.

Another designer displaying a masterful approach and design receptivity is Pablo Cabahug. He did very little amount of skin baring, yet he achieved a pinch of worldliness, as shown in the gown modeled by the very media-visible Bianca Valerio.

Closing one season of Philippine Fashion Week fell on the lap of the much-envied Jerome Salaya Ang. Not a few vicious eyebrows were raised upon learning that Mr. Ang had been singled out to conclude the season. Nasty accusations flew wildly in all directions. But when his cluster of interestingly bonggacious numbers materialized on stage, I could almost hear his harsh critics quietly reciting mea maxima culpa after witnessing jaw-dropping numbers he filled the excellently lighted runways with.

So will you guys blame me for giving these marvelous clothes the encore they deserve?