The council has spoken: Philippine fashion is (mostly) alive and well

The Metrowear fashion series has increasingly incorporated an entertainment aspect, combi-ning song, dance and and Broad-way-worthy set design to create a total sensory experience. The last YDG and FDCP event in July 2009 was spectacular, with huge lightboxes stacked on the stage and violinist Jay Cayuca rocking out to an a capella choir singing, quite probably, the Lady Gaga hit of the time. Last Tuesday’s YDG/FDCP 15th anniversary gala continued the trend, this time with Pedicab providing the tunes for the YDG segment and The Dawn’s Jett Pangan doing a Rockeoke-meets-Glee set with a young choir for the FDCP part, the choir singing Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance while Jett mashes in U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday under a strobing light that looked like a giant hairdressing lamp. Fun stuff, but just a few shades shy of noontime variety show, especially with the robotic dance number with Samsung phones that opened the presentation. Not surprising though, as it seems most things these days are veering towards variety showiness, not least of which is the new administration.

The YDG and FDCP are organizations that give fashion designers a venue for support, growth, and training, as ways to promote excellence in the field. Both groups have been around for 15 years, been through patches of inactivity and innovation, and have included many of the country’s most successful designers. The FDCP’s Philippine Fashion Design Competition have produced names like Jun Escario, Cary Santiago and the promising Brian Leyva, who died tragically in March (on that note: stop the killing of Filipino fashion designers!)

YDG

The Young Designers’ Guild was given the mandate to be the avant guardians of fashion, but the term has lost its cachet since everything weird and wild has become acceptable, even expected. What worked best on stage were looks that creatively explored new trends but stayed true to the designer’s leitmotif. Louis Claparols’ last collection as president of YDG was an exuberant celebration of colors and patterns that reminds one of childhood superheroes with its tribal-galactic look. Regine Dulay went tribal-ethnic with short dresses woven and knotted in a very controlled manner, making them incredibly fresh and even edgy, as opposed to something you’d find in Narda’s. Reian Mata brought out what my friend describes as “partially skinned flamingoes,” Barbie rockers with not-cute patches of lamé, leather and lace. Was Eric delos Santos making a statement on the BP oil spill? Young Star’s Paolo Lorenzana commented that his creations looked like an homage to the ocean’s flotsam and jetsam, tangled with the bedraggled feathers of tarred pelicans. We’ve seen Eric capable of much better, so here’s hoping he “cleans up.”

Ferdie Abuel presented one of the strongest collections of the night, a deft mix of soft drapes, twists and constructed ruffles highlighted by the stringent use of a single color, a burnished bronze. Jerome Lorico followed with an excellent, whimsical cortege of rumpled pinstriped suits, the men looking like hungover literary hobos or recovering Wall Street types who survived the market crash and emerged with a more ecological conscience. Veejay Floresca’s models appeared to be the unlucky bycatch from a fishing trawler, and Mitzi Quilendrino’s girls were even more unfortunate, wearing kamikaze bridal gowns with paper bags over their heads. One model had to mince her way down the catwalk, so narrow was the hemline of her dress. The collection was saved by a winning neutral-colored gown with a spray-painted top. The YDG segment ended with one outfit from the late Brian Leyva, a heavily sequined — or were they copper centavos? — terno pantsuit, a testament to a fire that was snuffed out too soon.

FDCP

Barba, who always strives to be wearable, came out with a ho-hum ridged theme, Jerome Ang made rockstar party dresses for the posh goth, and Len Nepomuceno dressed two-faced debutantes with her juxtaposition of black and white, and tight skirts with oversized shoulder ruffles. Avel Bacudio created casual formal wear you can wear to modern weddings and film festival awards — shiny tuxedo blazers in a luxe silver paired with rolled-up shorts. Arcy Gayatin didn’t break new ground with the use of the pleated ribbon that’s all over the place nowadays, while Gerry Katigbak took on the colonial period with ruffled collars, velvet burnouts and a veiled dress decorated with a huge anting-anting bib. JC Buendia offered some corporate looks and Ivarluski Aseron gave us simple silk sheaths whose magic lies in the movement.

Randy Ortiz brought a sexy, dark glamour to his signature red carpet evening looks and OJ Hofer worked the padded shoulder, particularly with a stunning white leopard dress that will make you go “rawr.” Dong Omaga-Diaz gave weight to somber fall dressing with heavy wool, and Jojie Lloren played with floral embroidery creeping up black dresses, channeling Asia and Spain. With the exception of a glaring few, everything in the whole show was completely wearable, showing that creativity is not always opposed to commerciality. We look forward to another 15 years of YDG and FDCP taking Philippine fashion to the next level.