Fashion watch report: Jerome Lorico's life aquatic made somber

MANILA, Philippines - If Jerome Lorico’s designs looked like something suited for anything but Manila’s intemperately humid summers, that’s because they are.

“Summer can be breezy and cold at nights especially on the beach,” Lorico tells YStyle. “I thought it would be practical to include pieces that would give comfort by layering fabrics and adopting that blanket dressing idea.” I don’t know what beach Lorico has been spending time in but it certainly isn’t one close to the equator.

A collection of breezy knits layered with breathable wool and acetates reflected a summer not within Manila’s overly warm confines. And that’s fine. If there’s a designer we like, it’s one with an imagination.

“I see people waking up in a nice villa near the beach, walking along the shores, and gathered around a bonfire at night stargazing,” he tells us.

Lorico’s mood board was peppered with images plucked from an old Hemingway tale: boat sails, giant manta rays, squids, seaweeds, harpoons, daggers, old men, mermaids, sharks and flying fishes. Referencing The Old Man and the Sea, Lorico was fixed on the notion of a cold season: “I was inspired by the other side of summer. The part which is a little muted, somber and gray. That state where we can have a moment to look back into our selves and reflect.”

And it works, at least in my estimation. Lorico has proven himself to have a singular aesthetic. And it shows, in silhouettes that clung to the figure while oversized outerwear slouched off the body. In a season of generic cocktail dresses, I found comfort in the youthfulness of a floor-skimming long-sleeved dress worn by Ria Bolivar and the backpacks slung over shoulders of male models garbed like dystopian alpinists. It reminded me of the summers of my childhood spent hiding from the sun, reading books in the dark while the air-conditioner worked double time.

Though some overly pat allusions, like the large accessories shaped like watercraft accoutrements or sea objects, were a little much, there was plenty to enjoy in Lorico’s parallel universe. Like the hoodies that zipped up to conceal half the face (no more SPF required) or the knit minidresses embroidered with snakelike curves evocative of octopus tentacles.

Even Inno Sotto agrees, telling me shortly after the show that he thinks Lorico has a bright future ahead of him.

And if that future is made up of moody grays and contemplative somber hues, all the better.