Puey paints his way

The designer best known for his elaborate cocoon-shaped designs, long dress coats and use of indigenous materials garnered a full house of fashion insiders, friends and colleagues at his show last Oct. 22. Everyone was enthusiastically looking forward to his first big solo show at Fashion Week.

The stage was set, unique from others, and the anticipation was felt all throughout the room. Surely, this was the show to watch. The first dress was promising: a typical Puey creation of a big-skirted ball gown of chiffon and thickly layered fabric with a bustier top. What followed were cocktail dresses spray-painted with a rainbow of colors, an homage to his project with the Bilibid prison men. Though the designs were a fresh take on using color, the silhouette and workmanship was less than stellar. Some pieces appeared messy and haphazardly done. The jersey dresses, which had an unfinished design, truly looked like they were left undone in the middle of production, as though the motive to make it work had been abandoned. The pieces that followed all had the same dilemma: average workmanship, uninspired designs and lack of original ideas that everyone was expecting to see in a big solo show. It was as if there was not enough time to polish all 50-plus pieces, yet still forcing the outfits to appear on the runway.

I was searching for the redeeming factor, hoping to find it in the models (although without the star power of Joey Mead and Allessandra de Rossi some pieces would’ve really tanked) or the hair and makeup and presentation. The makeup was a feeble attempt at taking inspiration from painter Frieda Khalo, attaching her unibrow, braids and red lips to the girls with poor results. Instead of looking like an exotic artist, they ended up looking like a messy oil painting.

The intention of producing impressive pieces was there somewhere, hidden under the bulky fabrics and theatrical hair and makeup. Puey has incredible talent and a way of making clothes that are truly works of art, special and unique. It just didn’t quite show in the finished product. Hopefully next season’s collection will be reminiscent of when he started in the business: fresh, exciting and very much in tune with what a woman wants.