Mama Mia! Mia Arcenas' Fab Fluidity

 CEBU, Philippines - At this point, it pretty much goes without saying that the frantic pace of fashion is testing the wherewithal of designers.

Creating two coherent, compelling, and well-made collections per year is hard; adding pre-Holiday and Resort to the production schedule presentTHURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012 a significant challenge to the resources, both creative and practical, of even the most talented young designers. Young charming designer Mia Arcenas has made canny use of her Resort collection, giving herself the chance to expand on ideas she debuted last season. In particular, Arcenas, at the In Haute Pursuit at the Marriott Poolside for the Solinea party where she launched a 30-piece collection, elaborated on her sharp volumes from her previous and that collection's experimentation with futuristic, technical materials. But she also added enough new ideas to the mix to make this season's clothes feel totally fresh while retaining the colorific good vibes.

This youing lady's inspiration this time out was "Hue and You"-or, as she has put it, the dressy and colorful looks that nice, bourgeois ladies wear to a resort getaway. And there was something mumsy about this collection's range of mid-calf dresses and skirts, maxi pleated columns and voluminous sheaths. A tone played against the pieces' execution in materials like ultralight varnished chiffons and boiled georgettes. The silhouettes helped with the update, too - Arcenas' dresses, for instance, were surprising in their geometry and scale, as did the collection's palette: an entirely intuitive mix of Pepto pink, tonal aqua greens and blues and bright orange and yellow redolent of the tropics or the Mediterranean. Elsewhere, Arcenas added menswear grace with new notes – soft-tailored linen cut-offs and comfy trousers, and piles of neckpieces. The combination of full skirts and bandeaux read as Gres-esque-and Arcenas admittedly did get her start at that label admirably gazing at the Madame – but she took ownership of the look with a sharp, minimalist and modernistic reinterpretation. All in all, this was a strong outing for Mia Arcenas. Indeed, taking obligation for opportunity, she seized on this Resort collection to present her most thorough and refined vision for womenswear yet. (FREEMAN)