MUGNÀ: Perfecting, not Simply Reinventing

CEBU, Philippines - In a time when the ordinals of collections churned out by fashion-industry trendsetters is getting as populous as those by fast-fashion labels, you know you’re onto a winner when a designer’s name becomes synonymous with inimitable styles.

This was underscored in the latest installment of Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort & Spa’s “Mugnâ” fashion show – an occasion which transformed the seaside resort’s Lobby Lounge into the “Fashion Lounge,” on May 14.

Dubbed “Mugnâ: An Alluring Rendition of Paradise,” the event focalized the sharp design delineations of Cebu’s Jun Escario and Mia Arcenes.

Collectively, the fashion presentation cinched the aesthetic variables that have long distinguished Escario as one of Cebu’s master couturiers and Arcenas as an up-and-coming talent who is gaining her own share of followers and fans.

Vibrant prints rendered in pastel shades as base mainlined Arcenas’ showcased ritornelle – enthusing her refreshing take on the conventions, norms and mores of luxe lounge and resortwear.

Combining minimalist themes with intricate details that accentuate tailored renderings of strikingly sharp aesthetics, the ideal in having meticulous details that speak for themselves continued to take the lead in Escario’s presented pieces – a quality which has long become the designer’s signature style.

All in all, the fineries presented in “Mugnâ: An Alluring Rendition of Paradise” testified what follies a designer could fall into when he or she fails to see the difference between “reinventing” and “perfecting” – mainlined by pieces that were molded from an approach that’s about perfecting, not needlessly reinventing.

Much like how we are constantly in search for our individual versions of “paradise”, this month’s “Mugnâ” fashion show enthused how we often miss the “paradise” that is within our reach in failing to see that all roads lead to where we stand – that needless frivolity is not the avenue that leads to optimums. (FREEMAN)