CEBU, Philippines - When people think about avante garde fashion, haute couture, and all things cosmopolitan, they instantly think about the dazzling runways of New York, Sydney, Milan, and Paris. After all, if you talk about the most fashion forward crowd in the world, you wouldn’t go wrong with either of the four.
Enter 22-year-old Josip Estolloso Tumapa who eats, breathes, and exudes everything tres chic, everything fasyon. Give Josip a quick top-to-toe once over and you’ll know he’s dead serious about fashion designing as Bill Gates is about making Nintendo Wii a thing of the past.
“Fashion really wasn’t the one thing that I absolutely wanted to do with my future until more recently, like when I was about 16 years old,” Josip, a senior Entrepreneurship student of Silliman University admitted.
Josip confessed that even before his sister’s Barbie dolls caught his eye and ignited his sense of style, his inclinations leaned towards burning rubber and getting down and dirty as a motor cross racer. After realizing that the growl of the engine was more of noise than it was music to his ears, Josip eventually kissed the mud tracks good-bye.
With his sketches creating a buzz and drawing a lot of attention from those around him, it wasn’t long before Josip, then a fifth grader, was asked to whip up an entire line of uniforms for the faculty of Silliman University Elementary School in laid-back Dumaguete City.
However it was really four years ago, in 2005 when Josip was given the chance to showcase his ingenuity in fashion design. What awed the crowd during Silliman University College of Business Administration’s college week fashion show was only the tip of Josip’s clothes-berg.
The event practically opened a lot of closets—er, doors—for Josip. Projects started to pour in faster than you can say “Prada.”
“It started with shows supporting a particular advocacy although they gave me my own creative license. Independent production agencies then hosted some of my projects and eventually the provincial government of Negros Oriental hosted some events. More projects just started coming in from so many people to the point that my hands would get all tied up and I’d have to refuse some of the projects. I’ve really learned to produce only with competent people,” said Josip.
Over the years, Josip’s style has clearly metamorphosed from sleek, classy silhouettes to the more avante garde pieces. Many of which are compiled in his Multiply site, www.projectovform. multiply.com.
“It’s a process of testing my skills in practice, not only in theory. So out of every piece I make, it is a challenge if I can do better than the last creation. It’s a self-learning process that I value very much,” Josip said.
To date, Josip boasts of five collections although, as he said, in theory he has a lot more.
“ I can’t just splurge on a collection without a ready market willing to buy any of the pieces given Dumaguete’s very laid back atmosphere,” he said.
Josip shared that he usually draws inspiration from his mood and from music.
His latest collection is reminiscent of the Elizabethan Era spiked with a modern twist and themes from Kasalang Filipino—which is incidentally his latest show to date. Josip admitted to having what he called “multiple design personalities” from where he pegs many of his latest works.
“I’ve actually given my design personalities names: there’s Nikkotine who embodies my strong and demanding design style; Monique, who is all about metallic, iridescent fabrics and soft drapes; and Mariyn, who embodies most of my more eccentric, near-impractical designs. Everything I do, It’s all for the art of design and nothing else,” he said.
He added that he was always giddy about pulling off a “how does it hold on to her?” feel among his avid viewers. “I always put in a few tweaks here and there that would keep them wondering or asking questions.”
The more one gazes at` Josip’s designs and his many fashion photo shoots, the harder it is for the beholder to believe that Josip never had a pinch of formal training in fashion design after his painful demise during the entrance test at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts.
“I scored 49 over 50 during the talent test but it was the aptitude test that ultimately became the breaking point. They were only accepting the top 40. I was ranked 42nd,” Josip reminisced. Taking it was a challenge, he made his way back to the University Town where he honed his talents even more and built up his portfolios together with the vast network of models and photographers following the first fashion photo shoot that he did which was inspired by a very good friend.
Since then, Josip has come up with various concepts and directions for the fashion shoots of his countless creations, charging between Php 50.00 to Php 13,000.00 per session. These fashion shoots, apart from helping his fellow amateurs in the fashion arena—models, make-up artists, and photographers—build their portfolios, was something he admitted he did simply to banish boredom.
When asked who among the world’s top designers have made him want to go beyond the basics in fashion design, he answers without batting an eyelash, “ Locally, I’d say it would have to be the two haute couture powerhouses, Cary Santiago who got me very ecstatic and uber inspired when I had the chance to pay him a visit. I also admire the works of Amato Haute Couture by Furne One. Internationally, I love Vivienne Westwood. Roberto Cavalli and Versace’s I’m-filthy-rich-and-steaming looks leave me speechless while Elie Saab’s attention and taste of details are something I find remarkable. Admire Karl Lagerfeld’s design cuts and his attitude and John Galliano? He’s a God in my eyes.”
With the kind of exposure that other amateur fashion designers would kill for, Josip, who has long been prodded by many of Philippine fashion’s bigwigs to submit an application for the Philippine Fashion Week, definitely has plans of going professional.
“Today, fashion designing is and has always been something I loved to do—not something I only dream about,” Josip said.
It’s clear enough that the future of Philippine fashion is here and just an island away.