Local weaves, light colors and loose shapes evoke summer
To be honest, I don't really know how I'm supposed to judge fashion. Should the criteria be on wearability or unbridled creativity? On what the market wants, on what the market needs, or on what the market is able to provide? Having been to at least one or two PhFW shows per season for several years now, what I can say is that it just gets better — the production, the participants and likewise the fashion itself. PhFW is aligning itself more with global currents, and you can sense the shift. From insularity there is now universality. From a “I'm gonna design whatever the hell I want, unfinished hems and all,†attitude, there is now a sense of business sewn into the seams. Designers are looking ahead beyond their next client or even next collection. They're thinking about retail collaborations and international hires, inspired by the many successes that the runways have already spawned. So they must be cohesive, consistent, and maybe even just a tad conservative.
Visions and Trends used to be the segment where all the wacky (emphasis on wack) were trotted out, but last Saturday's show proved that designers are thinking more conceptually. Bo Parcon came out with an all-black collection for the tropical goth, with sheer overlays, hoods and corsetry. Happy Andrada turned up the cupcake factor with light pastels and retro bows, but infused a local-eco aesthetic with the use of handwoven naturally dyed fabrics such as abaca, pineapple, jusi, bamboo and water lily. Jaki Penalosa also went native, but with loose and loungier silhouettes that made piña look actually comfortable, in soothing earth tones. Oz Go served up refreshing sorbet hues against graphic grays in sporty shapes. Santi Obcena took inspiration from Astra, a story of a boy who fell in love with a star, interpreted through Milky Way white, gray, black and silver. Xernan Orticio used artful folding and pleating in an homage to ikebana, also delivered in neutral tones.
The Ready to Wear group is meant to showcase wearable and more commercial pieces. Those that stood out, in a good way, were a mere couple, including Arnold Galang's blue-and-white Mediterranean odyssey. The references were obvious, but the prints are pretty and the silhouettes are modern, relaxed and sexy — it's like Mamma Mia, you can't not enjoy it. Yako Reyes on the other hand took the semi-obscure Flying Nun as an inspiration point and managed to transpose a clerical vibe onto flowy long outfits, topped off with clever curtained caps, that were definitely not meant for a nunnery.
