High shine and metallic accents, common denominators in disparate holiday collections

MANILA, Philippines - Sparkles and gloss — the prevalent marks of holiday evening wear were ticked off at Sony’s Premiere A runway, and even someone who was pushed rudely out of the door by Joey Espino (namely me) could have predicted the appearance of these usual suspects in any holiday runway presentation. But a couple of designers pulled out other furry creatures from their hats, and no, we aren’t referring to one of Roland Lirio’s hairy coats: there were see-through plastic jackets, a crimson single-breast asymmetrical vest, and dresses overrun with cords in patterns that could be used in a Rorschach test (“I see...a winking cartoon face?”). It seems the designers let their visions take the driver’s seat, critics be damned, and the end destinations were interesting, varied, and even worlds apart; a veritable mind trip, if you will. Now if only Espino would stop ignorantly shoving guests off of that ride.

Dimple Lim seemed to be channeling the slinky glamour of Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowen a.k.a. Joan Collins with her draped lamé dresses, but she also called on a lot of other unidentifiable glamour deities with her ethnic-print kaftans, pleather shifts, and the aforementioned corded dresses (Joan Collins would never!), among many, many, oh god, so many other looks. The collection was just all over the place.

Knits in camel and white were dominant in Jeffrey Rogador’s presentation of smart and wearable pieces, and instead of forcing square pegs into round holes, the designer let the inherently relaxed fit of knitwear be the main attraction. Other refreshingly clean looks he sent down the runway were slouchy tunics cinched with wide chrome belts and tailored separates in white and light chocolate. Oh, and there were the transparent plastic jackets that boldfaced the fun in functional.

Metallic geometric panels were aplenty on Odelon Simpao’s collection of otherwise boring dresses, though his menswear looks delivered other sources of holiday-appropriate shine through the choice of fabrics, like Lurex.

After shine came even more shine with Roland Lirio’s use of metallic fabric, paillettes, and rivets in his holiday looks. Lirio’s collection seemed to be divided into two phases: Phase One was about the ladylike gold-on-black print featured in cutesy silhouettes while Phase Two was a detour to funky town where embellishments are never enough.

Rounding up the show was Xernan Ortico and his blood-red collection of sharp and tailored pieces that showed flesh through sheer panels, thigh-high slits, and down-to-there décolletage, a sexier interpretation of tuxedo dressing.