Chito Vijandre: The great runway comeback at Slim's

Fashion may be a young man’s game, but at the Slim’s presentation, which honored the venerated fashion institution’s 50th year by presenting capsule collections by its alumni, one particular senior designer proved that experience and wisdom trumps all. 

Buzz surrounded the well-attended show since Philippine Fashion Week’s schedule went public with headliners like Dubai’s Ezra Santos and Michael Cinco. (Slim’s list of graduates, after all, reads like a designer who’s who, including greats like Oskar Peralta, young designers like Aries Lagat and the recently-feted Oliver Tolentino.)

But the buzz mostly surrounded news that Chito Vijandre, who runs Firma with partner Ricky Toledo, would return to the runway after 25 years.

“Chito’s story was the great big comeback,” Slim’s co-director Mark Higgins tells The STAR.

“My last collection was in the early ’80s,” Vijandre reveals. “When Mark invited me to be part of the show, it rekindled my urge to do a collection.”

Vijandre’s somnambulist theme resulted in a richly-textured series of looks that paid homage to the Victorian era, Japanese zen and Art Deco. It took him a year to consolidate all the fabrics from Japan and Paris. “I found these birds of paradise feathers in London,” he says. “They are practically extinct.”

Gasps and instant applause greeted his collection, which possessed the same kind of sophisticated eclecticism Firma made famous. A jaunty top hat, a cane, bejeweled pumps served as an idiosyncratic punctuation mark to opulent clothes that spoke of refinement and imagination.

Rarely has a collection elicited such stentorian reaction.

“He’s at a point in his life when he has nothing to prove,” Higgins observes. “He’s his own man. He didn’t have to account for his collection to anyone, which I thought made it fantastic.”

Vijandre confessed that he doesn’t do trends. “I never conform,” he says, a sensibility that’s reflected in the collection.

“I’ve known Chito for a long time. He and ricky have a beautiful house. Firma is known for its exquisite taste, ” Higgins says. “This was no surprise.”

Design through the Ages

Higgins is celebrating the fact that the motley mix of designers represent the fashion school’s different decades. “Early graduates like Chito and Joe Salazar, a recent national artist nominee, in the same group as young designers like Joey Samson, James Reyes, is nice to see.”

Joey Samson showed highlights of his work this year, which included a crisp men’s suit, a strong suit of his, along with a modern ankle-length white dress with cutouts in organdy.

An extension of his Fashion Watch holiday collection, James Reyes’ all-black collection stood out thanks to his massively ornate headpieces sculpted from paper. The single hue served as a jumping off point, a meditation on texture.

The Dubai designers proved they were masters at drawing attention.

“The big unexpected surprise was Ezra Santos,” notes Higgins. “He’s the first Filipino designer to open his own couture house under his own name in Dubai.”

Santos divvied his looks between two factions, all-black ensembles in French herringbone embellished with black and hematite Swarovski that looked like something worthy of a Dysnasty remake and a series of short white dresses in Swiss jersey with terno sleeves and white mosaic and silver Swarovski crystals.

Santos was inspired by the butterfly sleeve. “I wanted to revolutionize the sleeve, make it more modern,” he says. “It’s iconic. I love the shape and structure.”

The collection came across as a meditation on good versus evil — the campy villainesses in black against the angels in white with their winged sleeves. The camp in black made the stronger argument as villainess make for more interesting fodder. The sheer tights with black beads and form-fitting suits looked like something Dita von Teese would wear. Or maybe even Alexis Carrington.

Michael Cinco, maybe the hardest-working designer at the moment, is taking his third turn on the runway this month. Though there were plenty of repeats from his Red Cross Ball showing, Cinco was a crowd pleaser, though the white suits looked out of place next to his more elaborate pieces.

Senior designers Joe Salazar, who closed the show with a red and black gown, and Cesar Gaupo, who opened the show with structured cocktail dresses, provided gravitas while recent graduates Erika Adona and Riza Bulawan exhibited an aesthetic worth a second look, in particular Adona’s retro-futuristic sensibilities.

There is plenty to celebrate in the work of young designers.

In the case of Martin Bautista, one of the younger talents, there was confidence on display, particularly in the opening number, a tough-looking dress cut to bare one leg. Though a draped top and skirt in leather looked rudimentary, a sequined dress in gold was more successful, while trousers with sheer and sequined panels paired with a sequin-collared top was youthful and charming.

“When a school has been around this long, it tends to breed the same kind of student,” Higgins says, “but this show proved that Slim’s has an illustrious alumni that’s incredibly diverse.”