The Brave New Designers

At the recently concluded Ad Congress, Jaime Augusto Zobel declared that the only way the Philippines could compete within the region would be to establish itself as the "center of creativity." It is not only a patriotic statement but sound business strategy. As marketing experts would say, it’s all about your "USP –unique selling point." And though our neighbors may have the edge in technological savvy, we Filipinos have a certain landi, a frisson of artistry that is raw, fresh and yet cosmopolitan enough for the international market.

So it is unfortunate that while the Philippine government pours millions and millions of pesos into our sports programs, we barely bring home gold medals but our talented young designers have to get by on subsistence level when they have been bringing home grand prizes in international design contests. For example, in the Concours International des Jeunes Createurs de Mode (a kind of Olympics for young designers held in Paris), two designers have won the grand prize: Frederick Peralta and Jojie Lloren; and one designer won top finalist honors: Dong Omaga Diaz.

Formed in 1996, as an offspring of the private and public sectors, the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines is an organization committed to upgrading the local design industry, in apparel and non-apparel fields, and making the Filipino designer competitive in the world scene. Its primary commitment is to the young designer, to expose the emerging Filipino talent to the very best international design education.

The Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines, in cooperation with the Garment and Textile Export, conducts the annual Philippine Fashion Design Competition to select contestants to the Concours International. In addition to the competition, the FDCP presented its Lifestyle Settings and Trends 2002. The Lifestyle Settings are showcases of the hot trends in home design and the Trends 2002 are presentations of the designer-members of the strong trends in the coming year.

Watching a design competition (though there is also a fashion show) is very different from covering a regular fashion show. There is an air of expectancy and optimism in the air. Instead of jaded fashionistas and cynical poseurs out to pounce on the faults of the collections, young students, friends and family cheer on the nervous but hopeful contestants. I still remember so vividly the jubilation when Dong Omaga Diaz won the contest in 1999. His friends in the Young Designers Group were jumping up and down and whooping it up as it was the second year in the row a YDG member was going off to Paris. In 1998, Jojie Lloren, a founding member of YDG, won here in Manila and Paris. It was no less exciting last year when fashion maverick Ignacio Loyola, himself a veteran of international design competitions and a darling of industry insiders, emerged triumphant with a jumpsuit put together out of black rubber bands.

Every year, the Concours International has a theme to unite the diverse creativity of its contestants. This year’s theme was "Materials." Young designers took mundane objects and converted them into fantastic garments. Most entries had a healthy dose of wit and humor. A wonderful example of this whimsical mood was Ernesto Angeles who was inspired by the bathroom so he made a skirt of bath sponges, a cape of knitting yarn, to mimic terry cloth, and a necklace of ceramic bathroom tiles. John Paul Rangel used the lowly plastic, often used in tiangges and carinderias to create a voluminous skirt and jacket in a baby doll silhouette reminiscent of the Korean national costume.

Other designers used traditional materials but treated them to give them a distinct patina. Noni Diza used chiffon and polyester dyed in lemon tea and dried under moonlight to get that completely nude effect. He then printed the knits with an illusion of knits over knits and plaids over plaids. Reydante Encarnacion made a blouse of organza dyed in natural achuete bark and natural grasses and cotton wool dyed with laminated leaves. Ramil Noveda used jusi that was tie-dyed and burned to create an overblouse for asymmetric shorts and a handpainted jumpsuit.

For some designers, the key element was shape. An artistic Cebuano designer created an "ovoid jacket" that looked like a wearable Chinese lantern, which he termed as symbolic of a cocooning world. The "skeleton" of the jacket was plastic boning and the individual "panels" were made of surface beadwork on stretch tulle. The jacket was quickly snapped up by fashion independent Tessa Prieto-Valdes for an appearance on the Sharon Cuneta Show with a theme called "Out of This World."

There were 23 entries that qualified as semi-finalists. The board of judges had to select five entries as every year, the Philippines enters five designs into the competition. For the first time in the contest’s history, there was an additional prize: a one-year study grant from the Lasalle College of Canada.

The board of judges was an impressive gathering of design authority: fashion designers Inno Sotto, Lulu Tan Gan and Bubum Melgar; furniture and home accessories designers Kenneth Cobonpue and Milo Naval; stylist Michael Salientes; theater costume designer Salvador Bernal; architects Ed Calma and Joey Yupangco; Philippine International School of Fashion director general Andree Belanger; fashion patron and co-owner of the ready-to-wear store Regatta and lifestyle store Mai Tai Lizzie Zobel; entrepreneur Mandy Santos representing MR Knitwear; jewelry designer and STAR columnist Joyce Oreña-Stalder; the cultural attache of the French Embassy Loic Daniel; and staunch supporter of the FDCP, CITEM executive director Araceli Pinto Mansor.

I don’t know if the counting of votes was more efficient this year or if the judges just had an easier time, but judging was extra-fast this year. Even the presentation of contestants was more streamlined, making this the least boring of all the contests I’ve ever covered.

How did the judges sift through the outburst of talent and creativity? I can’t really speak for the judges, as each selection was based on a mix of objective criteria and subjective taste. The 23 entries went through two rounds of judging. The preliminary technical judging was based on fabrication concept and fitting and workmanship. Show judging on the actual night of the contest was based on fashion concept and visual impact. Now while some contestants displayed wit, and others had painstakingly intricate materiality, the five finalists magically combined those two elements.

Ramon Esteban was inspired by "ripples of water," so he did a jacket made of plastic cut in circles and sewn together with metal components worn over a blue catsuit with long sleeves with built-in gloves.

Reian Mata Kagahastian used cigarettes, binded with black, orange, dirty white, brown, beige and camel threads, that were knotted and embellished with brown, pink and crystal beads. The cigarettes formed an asymmetric dress, with slits up the sides, and puff sleeves worn over short shorts in abaca and raffia. Kagahastian, aside from winning a slot on the Paris contingent, won the scholarship to Lasalle College.

Ray Kuan started with a basic design: a jacket and skirt. He started with tulles and chiffon and applied patchwork, embroidery and beadwork. The jacket was curvy and tight, following a woman’s silhouette with a fanciful sleeve, and the skirt was layered, like a traditional tapis.

Yvonne Valera Quisumbing entitled her piece "Slumber." The top was made of elastic binding and the skirt had pillow bustles, reminiscent of Rei Kawakubo’s padded skirts. Yvonne says, "At the time that I was doing the concept for the design, I was sleeping a lot so I thought of including pillows in the design. The binding of the top symbolizes the reality that binds us when we wake up." The ingenuity of Yvonne’s design lies in the tension: While a pillow may imply bulk and warmth, she was able to create a garment that was fluid and edgily elegant. In fact, as Maricris Perez wore the ensemble, and did a dramatic pause as she rested on the pillow, she looked the perfect picture of avant-garde comfort.

The grand prize went to Angel Dura, who also named his creation "Angel." His dress was made entirely of stockings, dyed in pastel colors, and knotted in an empire cut dress. As I was interviewing Angel, Michael Salientes came up to him and gushed, "Yours was my favorite, I gave low scores to all the others, because yours was the only one I liked." Angel was clearly overwhelmed. He almost didn’t join. He was so unhappy with his original design that he pulled out of the contest. Only the encouragement of his fellow designers and friends Tina Danya and Ignacio Loyola pushed him to enter his design at the last minute, and helped with putting together his creation. Angel found stockings fascinating since the softness and transparency of the material are ideal for manipulation. He chose to dye the stockings in pastels as he feels the freshness of pink, white and light blue worked perfectly with the texture of the stockings.

FDCP president Lulu Tan Gan explained that while all five entries would be going to Paris, only Yvonne Quisumbing would be going to Paris. Though Angel got the highest score, he did not meet the age technicality so Yvonne, who had the next best score, will be slugging it out in Paris. Our good wishes and fervent prayers go with her as she braves the cold French winter to fly our national colors. Bonne chance, Yvonne!