2 thumbs up!

They came and they conquered... two of the city's top young designers Peewee Senining and Lory Mer Villareal, both winners of local design competitions, are fashion's most promising artists of the moment. They emerged amongst other design hopefuls to represent Cebu in the 2005 Philippine Fashion Design Competition- Search for the Philippine Representative to the Concourse International De Jeunes Creatures De Mode also known as the International Competition of Young Designers organized by the FDCP -Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines-come October 20,2005 to be staged in the Glorrieta activity center in Makati City. Last year's grand prix winner Cary Santiago , also a proud Cebuano and a good friend of mine is now based in Lebanon where he works as head designer for the couture house of Nicolas Gebran . His works have been seen on the pages of leading international fashion catalogues and magazines like Book Moda and Collezionni as well as the September issue cover of Preview magazine .

As of today, the two fashion mavens , Peewee and Lory , may have a lot of pressure , completing their entries , making final retouches , redoing and undoing a stitch, a treatment or even a silhouette, just to catch up with the deadline . Getting ready for the grand event isnt easy, believe me. I've been there once not so long ago when I joined MEGA Magazine's Young Designers Competition back in 2000. The experience is something you'll be thankful for , and the rewards are endless once you've done it. Here's a peek at both the designers' entries and see how they fare with the other competitors around the country .

beeKEEPER

Senining's entry is inspired by the unique pattern of the beehive . " It conveys an era of bio-diversity and the bounty of nature, " Peewee explained. The music of the bumble bee as it hums , the dramatic color of its eyes and the swift fluttering of its wings make up an enchanting orchestral representation of nature that caught his attention and his inspiration in making his masterpiece. He creates new proportions and geometric shapes with his cunning use of varied silhouettes and reinforced new generation techniques of construction to achieve the look he wanted.

The Modified Baro depicts a collective beehive formation , the alampay connects to the sleeves to form an improvised hood done in molded Mindanao silk and wrapped in silkworm threads, as well as the saya which extends to the collar. It follows the color pattern of a bumble bee's wings. The improvised tapis is intrelined with silk threads to give it a more textured look. He also makes use of Biwa pearls and shells as adornment to complete his work of art.

Peewee's euphoric use of color like yellow ochre, brown, mixed with murky earth tones, hues of purple, greens and the deepest shade of black, is evident in this creation , a signature sign in his past collections.

beata-SOPHISTICADA

Moving away from the boundaries of the traditional old-fashioned Baro't Saya, Villareal takes on modernism as manifested on his play and display of form and structure . His entry is a continuation of his distinctive collection , Beata, which gave him a shot at fashion back in 2004 when he triumphed as the Cebu Young Designers Competition winner. He worked on contrasting ideas-the strong and rigourous corset with a feminine hi-waisted full skirt , the vintage look with a modern twist. His juxstaposed use of the natural abaca fiber dyed in chocolate brown , infused with violet , gold and green satins and organza , is strikingly a fashion forward .

Lory's craving for fashion history's trademarks , the origins of the Filipiniana , like the panuelo, the sleeves , are meticuolously handcrafted to create the bolero that compliments the whole vintage glam in Filipiniana.

Who will be the next fashion design grand prix winner this year? Good luck to both our representatives and two thumbs up forthe Cebu young designers who continue to put Cebu at the forefront of fashion .