October has been one busy month — with so much going on, I’ve had to compile the blog posts by topic. This one is about fashion and modeling.
Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010
Fashion Week in the Philippines is held bi-annually. Designers showcase their looks for the upcoming season, and in this case I got to see what should be hot for Spring and Summer next year.
This is the third fashion week I’ve attended, and each time I feel a little more obligated to dress up for the occasion. Again thre were a lot of fashion do’s and don’ts among the attendees, and on the first day I attended (Thursday) I thought i was already “fashionably chic” (the dress code indicated on the PFW tickets) wearing an ensemble that looked straight out of Lookbook — tights, grey slouchy flat boots, scarf. Then I found myself standing beside people in impossibly high heels, outrageous outfits, and chunky jewelry. I vowed that for the Saturday shows, I’d do better. Which one looks more suited to fashion week?
While girls like me tried to outdress one another with ever-higher heels and striking silhouettes, all it took for guys to look fashionable were slim-fitting jeans, brightly colored skate shoes or chunky military boots, and a snazzy tee or button-down shirt. Sigh.
I attended shows both at the SMX Convention Center and at the Mall of Asia Atrium. Shows at SMX featured couturiers either in group or solo shows. The Luxewear show that had 14 designers sharing the time and space was uneven in terms of quality of design and material. Some designers really did wow the crowd, but there were other designers whose clothes seemed like a rehash of things already seen before and found in the department stores (yikes!). Premiere Collection B was markedly more uniform in excellence, with the five designers featured better able to stretch themselves creatively because they could show more clothes each. Puey Quinones’s first solo show was beautifully conceptualized and executed, and the clothes really showed off his eccentricity and design aesthetic.
I was also able to attend the Project Runway Philippines final runway show, featuring the three finalists’ designs. They really are greenhorn designers (which showed painfully in what they decided to put out on the runway), but here’s to hoping that the best one wins. I can’t wait to see the finale show, but will have to wait for the two-parter in November! Argh.
The Atrium shows were pret-a-porter brands and had more razzle-dazzle in terms of set production, choreography, and celebrities — things to catch a mall-goer’s eye. The Lee 120 Anniversary show featured Robin Padilla and Phil Younghusband, while the Dickies show featured early 1990’s matinee stars on the ramp (Tonton Gutierrez! Onemig Bondoc! Lorna Tolentino!) and sexy stars and bands giving musical performances and interludes.
One Hot FABE Fashion Show
Just two weeks before Philippine Fashion Week, FABE Clothing also had its own little runway show. This was my second time to be on a catwalk; the first time was in 2007 for a WetSHOP mini-show held at Fitness First Ortigas. This was a really big venue, though; Technowave on Tomas Morato is no small space, and 700 guests came to watch!
I was assigned a dress and a swimsuit to wear, and I was relieved to see that my fellow models were of different shapes and sizes, not simply just the stereotypical ramp model look (tall, lanky, thin). I was super-early at the venue for the final rehearsal; the choreography was complicated because not only did we have to come out onstage, but we had to walk down three steps crossed by huge electrical wires and circuit the whole room before going backstage. Just my luck, I was the only one to fall down the stairs! Thankfully it didn’t leave a mark, and I finished the show without incident. Here are some photos and a video I edited of my walks down the runway. Ü
My interest in fashion hasn’t done wonders for my already-overstuffed closet lately (a subject for another blog post entirely), but my wardrobe has been asking for an overhaul, with shoes wearing out, clothes falling apart, colors fading… Whether I buy from a name-brand store or a tiangge takes second importance to finding and wearing outfits that are classic and won’t quickly go out of style when the next fashion week rolls around.