Save My Bag collaborates with Kiana Valenciano and Daryl Feril

Italian brand Save My Bag is embracing local talent this season, with a collection by designer Kiana Valenciano and internationally renowned artist Daryl Feril.

After studying at the Raffles Design Institute and the Central Saint Martins in London, Kiana returns ready and willing to plunge into the fashion business. She is the style curator of the latest, purely bespoke Save My Back collection, which she created in collaboration with Daryl Feril.

“I really wanted to do the project. It seemed like fun. I’m used to doing the designing and being under the spotlight, but this is different — it’s more of the business side and the styling side. I’m always into clothing, I design the dresses. It was a challenge to find a way to connect with the bags without being part of the design process. Working with Daryl and everyone on the team was such a different experience and I’m learning a lot from it,” Kiana says.

Being the daughter of celebrity icons Gary Valenciano and Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano, Kiana grew up backstage, and this is where her interest in fashion all began. “Seeing how celebrities’ clothes were made, it was just a natural thing that came about. I tried not to give in to it, but then I took a short course in fashion and my parents were fully supportive.” She adds, “In London, I was on my own, and you really see things from a different perspective when you’re on your own. The yearning to learn was extra strong. Every corner was a new addition to my sketch book. I took photos and I got inspired so easily. I grew up a lot while I was there and it was fun.”

As the style curator of Save My Bag, Kiana says, “If you look at the bags, it’s for a generation or a group of girls who are easygoing. Just use it — if you like it, use it. The ‘cool beyond the rules’ philosophy of Save My Bag really fits my personality. And it’s this kind of mindset that I applied to this collection, along with the spirit of close creative teamwork.”  

Joining her team is internationally acclaimed illustrator Daryl Feril, who is rendering his art to individualize the bags, which are ultra lightweight, rain- proof, and made from hi-tech poly-Lycra. Powering this collection is Kiana’s vision of collaborating with young, talented, Filipino visionaries with a global perspective, just like Feril, who has worked with top global brands and design studios in Asia, USA and Europe (among them LVMH and Tory Burch)  and has been featured in Juxtapoz magazine.

For this collection, Daryl turned each and every bag into a unique canvas — allowing him to express his artistry freely. “My idea is that, you can carry art through the different bags,” Daryl shares. “Each bag in the collection features different illustrations, thereby making them bespoke.”

 “I also wanted the collection to be close to my illustration style, which is a burst of florals, taking inspiration from nature which has some of the craziest patterns, colors and creatures,” he continues. “And as this is a collaborative effort, I took in inputs from Kiana too.” 

Daryl, who hails from Bacolod and is still based there, was always interested in art. He was discovered by DFS Galleria LVMH on Behance, and then landed his first major global campaign with the brand. His commercial works gear towards fashion, but his personal works, he describes, are more raw and organic, “A mix of chaos and elegance,” which is drawn with graphite on paper.

For Save My Bag, Daryl wasn’t inspired by trends. “It’s what I’ve learned. You don’t really have to follow trends because everything goes back eventually. When digital illustrations came along, I had a few jobs because everyone was into the flat illustrations. But I just continued to do what I liked, because I want my work to be seamless — so when people see my work, they will know it’s mine,” Daryl says. His acrylic illustrations in floral and garden themes — no two are alike —  can be found on Save My Bag’s latest collection.

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Save My Bag is located at the Little White Box Pop-Up store, the style portal for various international brands, at 3/F SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. It also has branches at select SM Stores.