Raving for Raffia

CEBU, Philippines – Who would have thought that the fiber from the buri plant can metamorphose into dazzling eco-chic collections of Salvador Malto? He might be fixed in many people’s minds as the designer of colorific figure-hugging cocktail dresses and chic swimwear, but he’s canny enough to foresee he’ll need another string to his bow now that the mayor of no less than the municipality of Inabanga (Mayor Jose Juno Jumamoy) wanted to form a tandem with him to put the town in the map. With this collection, he trained his thoughts to focus on clothes calibrated for women whose primary concern is the environment, rather than pleasing (or snaring) a man.

Thankfully, this was hardly “the costumey” raffia line of Salvador Malto. He crossed the line and developed knitwear accessorized with raffia this time (they came in bags, belts, sashes and more bags) factoring in his observation of how the young urban and modern women around him really dress and accessorize. Sleek leggy dresses, tops, and jackets were his answer—and that lithe silhouette came across, with luxury amplified, in gilded dégradé raffia embossed jersey dresses and skinny leggings. He also had plenty of short, psychedelic dresses before getting too deeply into evening. He’d concentrated especially on developing what he calls the wearable Raffia collection veering from the antiquated and itchy conceptions.

The high frequency exotic charge distinctive of Malto’s evening was fully present, though. The touches on his signature dresses—transparent beaded evening top paired with bolts of undulating raffia and chiffon and raffia overlays (which shiver when the wearer walks)—are so hard to miss so that the eye was forced downward to mull over where this ended, and where that started. He included evening dresses—one in orange with halter neck and a thigh slit but the overall impression was that this was a carefully non conventional outing, using plenty of almost bright shades and rich textures. If at times the pace smacked too much of the “selling collection,” there was more than enough here to reinforce Malto’s reputation as someone who works hard to find creative functional fashion solutions that speak to needs rather than mere froth.

Credits: M.A.C.>Models Association of Cebu (0917-6302400 / 316-2368)