Eclectic Fashion

Three designers recently treated local fashion watchers with a two-day runway series at the Epson=Photo event. Coming from different design backgrounds, the powerhouse threesome of Cary Santiago, Peewee Senining and Brian Aloquin gave us glimpses of how they look at fashion, more as a manner of self-expression reflecting each designer's distinctive style.

Directed by Monching Ceballos and organized by Witscraft Productions, the show, in a way, put together the premise of "fashion exceeding vision," and allowed each designer the creative freedom to present their take on this unifying concept, based on their personal experiences and diverse design inspirations.

Santiago's 25-piece collection was indeed the perfect choice as the show's grand opener. Nothing short of splendiferous, his cohesive range of creations displayed the extent of his genius, more particularly in orchestrating his exquisite details, even taking it further!

This former Dubai-based auteur of Lebanese haute couture label (Nicolas Jebran) would rather stick to a streamlined, close-to-the-body silhouette, play on the materials, and work on the details with utmost care. A huge part of his collection was done in satin, cut into strips with floral-patterned trims and distressed to create silk fringes, or calladoed (not by doing embroidery, mind you, but by using laser cutter technology).

His colors run the gamut of champagne to soft pinks to bright primaries. Most outstanding among his pieces were those fringed columns with bias-cut calladoed trims. Some of his clothes though featuring skeletal corset tops (made out of noodled fabric with wire insertions) were somehow updated remakes of a collection he presented in past shows more than 10 years ago. But we must say that this time, the designer gave us an idea of how he has mastered his craft by perfecting this sartorial technique.

Meanwhile, Senining's segment deviated from the costumey clothes he is more renowned for. This so-called avatar of the avant-garde, nonetheless, remains a young designer at heart, opting to show the fun side of fashion. His clothes were a cross between the aerobics-crazed 80s and the club-dazed 90s. So, we saw two-piece ensembles with asymmetrical mini tops and flouncy, tiered skirts in sporty satin fabrics. His layering, laced-up leatherette corsets, gauntlets and striped knee-socks were a fashion déjà vu altogether.

Calling his collection "Conflagration," Senining used fiery hues of red, orange, yellow with black making its way into his collection. Chiffon fabrics were stripped, slashed, frayed, distressed to mimic fire.

The guy is seeing red, as he confessed. This he showed in his collection that rebels against couture conventions, so much so that even his construction, loosely-sewn gartered waistbands, seemed like a conscious effort as though to mock couture by the severity of it; as though to say that we should not take fashion too seriously.

Aloquin's collection, on the other hand, is at the crossroads between then and now. His predominantly 60s theme showed us knee- and midcalf-length dresses and two-piecers cut along the A line, either biased or tucked. Aloquin made use of materials ranging from cotton pique to poplin to plastics.

More sober than Senining and working on the theme "Corrupted Classics," Aloquin played around this silhouette and gave it an updated twist by sprinkling a smattering of oversized paillettes, plastic strips, and fabric cutouts.

These detailing techniques were carried out in his sporty numbers to lend sportswear a more couture finish. There were knitted bomber jackets, piped jersey pants, shirts that were cut, piped and waisted.