Sheer Summer

CEBU, Philippines - The mere fact that not-necessarily-a-newbie Edwin Alba is always present in all key meetings of Clothes for Life Inc. despite the fact that his tenure as secretary ended two terms ago makes him some kind of a veteran. But that is not the case as this neo classicist (he has a strong aversion to anything anti-establishment) and his strong predilection to anything by Chanel, has been around only a few years. In those few years he settled in a cozy boutique just a stones throw from a mall making him ultra accessible. And considering all those who have been in and out of business during those years, he stood and withered the storms. His beat has always been easy, breezy clothes with an off-kilter homespun charm, and the look still has an appealing freshness and lack of pretension.

Edwin Alba’s 2010 summer collection, called “Pretty Perfect,” incorporates puff-sleeve blouses, dresses with layered ruffles, and sheer sheaths in organdy with color-blocked maillots underneath, all in bone-and-sand palette. While everything looks natural and almost homemade, the designer says he’s working with luxury, high-tech fabric that is “made to look low-tech”—like a pair of hand-crafted paillete smock dresses, in a mix of cotton and silk that ended could be another summer staple in a wardrobe of floral and bright hues.

His menswear might as well be a blast of the past using today’s fabrics. Playing with white, sand and ivory, he went for small, fitted jackets and low-rise, tapered trousers; Alba did not, however, neglect his customers’ need for everyday urban simplicity—his essential pantsuit came in beige wool gabardine with handpicked detailing. An ivory silk linen pant and jacket ensemble provided a relaxed spin on the tuxedo.

Bravissimo!

 Credits:

 Hazel Ceniza, Apple Angcon and Jumar Bilocura of M.A.C.>Models Association of Cebu ( 0917 6302400

/ 032 3162368)

Photographed by Roland Icban

Maquillage by Cielo Diamante