There can be only One

What kind of clothes will you find at the store called One of a Kind?

Clothes that look like Darna going disco bowling in the year 3000. Camouflage on acid wash and chicks on Speed Racer. First-date giddiness. Tabloid infamy. Electroclash therapy. The Vampire Lestat, Hello Kitty and your grandmother sharing a college dorm room.

Like what you always wanted to wear, but were too boring to. Or couldn’t find, till now: Lose yourself in the thicket of trinket stalls, siomai stands and tiny boutiques that spring forth from the nether-regions of Glorietta 2, level 3. Don’t look for a sign, because there isn’t one (yet). Look for the time– there is a clock that perches right over the store front–and the hands will point the way.

In One of a Kind, you won’t find trends or mass-produced ripoffs from J.Lo’s latest video, but rather affordable (from P200 up) and unique statements that you can make your own. The seven designers the store features are some of the most talented you’ll get to meet, and all are working hard to keep your fashion integrity so you’ll never have the misfortune of bumping into RTW clones. Or, like Mimi Sanson says, "I handle the entire process, from design, patternmaking to construction. Once a piece is done, I usually don’t want to make it again." If something isn’t in your size (they tend to run toward the petite), the designers will gladly make one for you, or suggest a customized alternative.

The difference is in the very devious details. Gian Romano’s naughty schoolgirls wear origami micro-minis, harlequin knee socks and exquisite white shirts with missing collars, unhemmed cuffs and the embroidery left hanging, suggesting schoolyard catfights between stylish brats with very long nails. Norman Noriega’s boudoir batwoman is gift-wrapped in oriental obi, a red alert to the miles of legs shown and the heart attack men are about to receive. Kenneth Chua’s swashbuckling piratess navigates the high streets of fashion with abandon, and an excess of sleeves will not ruffle this woman’s feathers. Mimi Sanson’s purple princesses layer their leggings with Madonna-punk pride, while her sky-blue screen sirens bring back that gold feeling.

Excited yet? A bit daunted, perhaps? Come on, indulge that part of you where fashion isn’t fascist, style isn’t stifled. Who doesn’t want a little attention? Turn it up with Tina Daniac’s beguiling and flirty creations. Daniac is the proud owner of One of a Kind, a kind of mother hen in fab feathers. She bases her designs on her own pagkikikay, and kikay there is plenty. Stretchy racerback-front dresses are draped with bright nylon swathes, hallucinogenic tights and mega fishnets that would shame any showgirl worth her knickers. Ronald Pasion, formerly of Warp, has put his own name to the visually jarring riot acts of urban warfare he designs. It’s ukay-ukay deconstructed and resurrected to a new state of origin: Avant-garde in vintage. Meanwhile, Ignacio Loyalistas will be pleased to hear they can snap up coveted one-offs from his personal line at One of a Kind. Loyola is the wildly-known, multi-award winning designer of beautifully structured, sensuous yet not-without-whimsy vestments that adorn serious and not-so-serious fashionistas. He was also Daniac’s original partner in crime as they joined forces to stage their first coup d’etat in 1999, called Fashion Sentral.

The creative minds that are nurtured in One of A Kind are more like a rowdy family than an industry. No competitive streaks, idea-stealing, or egos getting in the way. Just a bunch of good friends hanging out, a collective of young talents who draw inspiration from their environment, from popular culture, and from each other. It must be a bit of a difficult profession in a society that frowns upon any sort of stylistic weirdness or divergence from the tried-and-true. The mentality that gets uncomfortable around attention-drawing dressers – those who choose to take the scenic route, with Form hijacking the steering wheel while Function hangs off the back of the hand-painted, borloloy-studded karaoke space jeepney. But hey, the devil is in the details, and its hellagood to be one of a kind.