The moods of Vittorio

Vic Barba’s 15-year-long professional designing career has evolved from endless left-of-center creations to a successful and distinct ready-to-wear line, Vittorio.

Vic’s constant creative hunger and visionary talent has produced breathtaking pieces reflecting great depth in design and aesthetics. Having been inspired by countless themes from simple schoolboys and girls to complex ideas such as music, religion and art, his creations have evolved from sketch pads to fabric to culture, constantly seducing the attention of local fashion.

Like changing fashion trends, Vittorio’s mood shifts alongside the times. "Fashion thrives on change. It has to be for it to remain interesting." Vic explains. "You have to be constantly on your toes while keeping your ears on the ground. There is no one formula to get inspiration from. It starts from anywhere be it a blade of grass or someone’s bad taste. Even a mere mistake can get you inspired with options and design possibilities."

Vic’s creative moods cannot be compared to that of an amateur craving for attention. His creations do not scream, they showcase mature statements – that of a person who has years behind him but who still keeps in mind the years ahead of him.

But, one asks him, is adaptability to change the only factor in making a good designer? "Taste, foresight, the ability to listen and react accordingly," he enumerates. "Obviously, substance, discipline and maturity constitute a great designer, talent is not enough."

Among others, Vic is the vice-president of the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines and wants to further the local design industry. "One of our thrusts is to professionalize the design sector and work with the other players to eventually come up with a true fashion industry," he says. "Local fashion is not just about doing shows left and right and being visible. It’s about working behind the scenes, getting your homework done."

Vic’s innovative approach has secured for him, thanks to years of hard work, a household name in ready-to-wear. His continuous love affair with fashion is inspiring. Ultra-chic with an edge, globally modern with soul and refreshingly timeless, his Vittorio line defines the past, lives and breathes in the present, yet moves forward to the future.

(E-mail the author at mymultiplechoice@yahoo.com)