Philippine Fashion Week Review: On the fringes of the Japanese art movement

MANILA, Philippines - More than 10 designers came together at the Design Fusion / Visions and Trends Collection to show off their creative experimentations, providing a fete of artful experiments of form and shape. Common factors among the designs were Japanese influences, the use of natural materials and a lot of fabrics to form ropes and weaves. YStyle chooses the collections of note.

Bo Parcon

Parcon exhibited an all-white body-con collection for men and women that used twisted fabrics for draping, giving a vine-like effect to each ensemble. He showed long fringes of fabric used strategically as draping.

Dax Bayani

His collection entitled “Sepia Dreams” was the designer’s debut of his sustainable, environment-friendly, Japanese-inspired spring/summer collection. Short dresses and separates were produced in earth tones and made from raw textiles and natural fibers such as cotton, canvas and linen. Daring cutouts added sexiness to the otherwise classic silhouettes.

Jot Losa

With a collection inspired by roses, Losa covered the catwalk in crimson dresses and separates made out of leather and abaca. The “Temptress” collection, as he called it, was in celebration of the female physique, combining fragility (the abaca) with toughness (hard-edged leather).

Regine Dulay

Dresses in hues of tangerine, peach and canary yellow combined with more neutral tones of khaki and gray graced Dulay’s collection. Using micro twill and incorporating influences from household objects such as broomsticks and blinds, the designer created unexpected silhouettes by the use of piling panels of different fabrics resulting in almost sculptural pieces.

Dimple Lim

Lim attributed her collection’s inspiration to Ikiru, a film by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Her separates infused neutrals with olive green and steel blue, while fringes and sheer fabrics contributed to soft silhouettes and interesting details on the leggings worn by the models.

Xernan Orticio

Japanese inspired once again, but this time with the Orticio taking his cues from Japanese robots and mecha figures, combining it with origami techniques. Using silk and gazar fabrics, he showed form-fitting silhouettes in shades of ivory, white with magenta serrated lines as accents made up his evening dresses.

Joshua Guibone

Taking inspiration from a satellite dish and the funnel, Guibone produced gravity-defying dresses that revealed brightly colored weaved bodices. The weaving was produced by using cutout tulle to make diamond grids which were then inserted and twisted with bias tapes to come out with the weave-like effect.

Roland Alzate

Alzate’s “Nefertiti” collection incorporated soft silk chiffon and taffeta to drape on denim under layers for his feminine dresses in apple greens and tangerines. The designer completed each look with modern accessories he designed himself such as belts and steel cuffs, adding an edginess to his flowing silhouettes.