Imagine Dragons taps Pinoy designer for Thunder video

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino fashion designer created the futuristic costumes in the music video of Thunder, the electrifying new song of the hit-making US band Imagine Dragons.

Ignacio Loyola, an award-winning designer based in Dubai, dressed up the alien-looking, krumping, contorting dancers that underpin the sci-fi concept of the video, as well as the message of the song.

Thunder is the second single dropped from the alt-rock group’s forthcoming third album Evolve, a follow-up to the 2015 Platinum-certified Smoke + Mirrors. The track has frontman Dan Reynolds singing about being “not a yes-sir/not a follower” — a nod of sorts to being out of the box and not conforming to people’s expectations.

Shot in black and white and directed by Joseph Khan (whose more recent work included the Blank Space, Bad Blood, Out of the Woods videos of Taylor Swift), the video was largely filmed in the Dubai Design District (D3), the so-called center of the city’s creative community, according to a Gulf News report. Incidentally, D3 is where Loyola’s own design studio will soon open.

In an e-mail interview, Loyola said he got the Imagine Dragons project through the recommendation of fellow Pinoy Andronico del Rosario, owner of For Art Sake, a company that had set-designed Hollywood films (Mission Impossible, Star Wars) shot in Dubai.

Loyola has started to strike out on his own after having worked in a bridal studio for seven years. One of his projects as a freelancer was the Splash 2017 calendar where he met Del Rosario, who was also tapped to do the creative direction of the Thunder music video.

By March 14, Loyola met the producer Jil Hardin to discuss design requirements. The main directive was that costumes should be “alien” inspired. On the same day, he was asked to propose designs and materials. Fittings would already take place on the 16th because Imagine Dragons was shooting the video on March 17.

Loyola confessed to feeling more scared than excited to be hired as the music video’s costume designer. “My main goal was to deliver the designs and get the project as I also needed the money for my upcoming design studio,” he said. “It was scary all throughout the process as I was not at first prepared to accept the project” given the short notice. In addition, he had to re-submit designs on March 15 when the director commented that the first ones were “not alien enough.”

Nevertheless, he delivered and how! His commissioned pieces included a metallic silver jumpsuit, and male pants and padded tops made of neoprene. The costumes became quite a scene-stealer against the black-and-white backdrop, seemingly reinforcing the song’s theme of “embracing the different” as interpreted by music fans.

Loyola also did the body strap that Dan Reynolds wore in the video. He said of Reynolds, “(When I came for the costume fittings) I saw him sitting on the sofa, and he stood up and shook my hand as I was introduced to the group including (director) Joseph Kahn. He was actually very nice and accommodating.”

Without giving specifics, the gig paid handsomely because he was being compensated per day aside from the design cost and costume cost. More importantly, his creative work garners a wider audience with the music video now enjoying nearly nine million views since its May 2 release.

Loyola, whose roots are from Carmona, Cavite, has been a fashion designer since 1999. He shared that he’s the seventh child of Lorenzo and Julie Loyola, and his “very religious” parents named him after St. Ignatius of Loyola because he was born on his feast day. 

He is the first artist in the family although he believes he inherited his talent from his father. “My dad is a mechanic. After his work, he makes things out of scrap materials that are useful and functional. He was very helpful with my art projects and sculptures during my fine arts days.”

Loyola graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Design from the Philippine Women’s University. He also studied fashion at the Instituto Marangoni in Milan, Italy. He wanted to be an interior designer at first. “Then, I joined a competition called Smirnoff Mule Fashion Awards directed by Robby Carmona where I won (awards) including the International Prize,” he shared. “After that, I joined a lot of international competitions and was also introduced to the world of fashion. Robby helped me know a lot of people in the industry.”

Apart from the Imagine Dragons gig, his other showbiz-related project recently was doing a gown for Katrina Kaif, one of Bollywood’s highest-paid stars.

He chose to be based in Dubai because “I’m in love with Dubai and I have this dream of making it in the international scene. Dubai is the best choice for me to showcase my expertise and be my platform for international exposure.”

Loyola is now busy setting up his flagship store at the Dubai Design District and hopes to expand his business to his home country in the future.