A night of Pinoy chic

Philippine fashion’s A-listers, personalities and followers flocked to the newly opened National Museum of Natural History to attend the culmination and awarding ceremonies of the Balik Saya design competition, an advocacy to bring back the Maria Clara to modern times.

After more than a month of workshops and seminars, the 15 finalists were judged by Philippine fashion stalwarts, icons, luminaries and muses, that included designers Inno Sotto, Criselda Lontok, Randy Ortiz, Lulu Tan-Gan and Rajo Laurel, supermodel Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez, fashion photographer and style icon Jo Ann Bitagcol, dean of the School of Fashion and the Arts Tobias Guggenheimer and fashion muse Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez.

Balik Saya is a visionary project of Intramuros Administration and Manila Rep. Cristal Bagatsing, in cooperation with the Department of Tourism, and in partnership with the National Museum of the Philippines, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Destileria Limtuaco, Rustan’s, SoFa, The Bayleaf Hotels and Ilustrado.  

The successful and well-attended event showcased a hopeful display of design and optimistic perspective of future fashion. Linking the past to the present, the project is a noteworthy effort to remind us to preserve our rich history, culture and tradition.

It was a night of Pinoy chic wherein majority of the glittering guests came in their own interpretation of the dress code “modern Filipiniana.” Multiple Choice captures this moment of fashion at the museum and presents what people were wearing in this modern showcase of style individuality.