City Slick

While the sixties was characterized by Mary Quant and André Courreges’ mod, the seventies by the flower child’s hippie wardrobe, the eighties by fluorescent pieces and glam rock, and the nineties the minimalist movement, the 21st century has yet to be attached to a certain fashion aesthetic. Thirty years ago, people envisioned the "two thousands" to be a landscape of bubble wrap tops and Plexi-glass minis, but far from pulling on disposable fashion pieces, the 21st century style-phile is taking ideas from fashion history’s best moments to come up with something new. The new century can’t pinpoint a certain trend. Every season recycles looks from the preceding season, updates a collection from two years past, or just reworks the same color scheme or silhouette. But we dare not say that fashion is exhaustible.

The greatest thing about fashion is its intrinsic quality that allows for it to be recycled, remade, resurrected, and reborn. The greatest thing about 21st century fashion is the different kind of creativity that allows for all these processes to be acted on. Followers of fashion are beginning to embrace a fashion outlook that pulls ideas from the past, makes something out of the unimaginable, looks to the streets for inspiration, and relies on their own style sagacity to create a look that is appropriate for the "now." Some people may call it "anything goes" fashion, I’d like to call it individualism. It’s not about what’s worn these days. It’s the wearer who now takes precedence.

If you look real close, you’ll realize that the urban style scenery is more diverse than it was a few years ago. It’s not enough to be fad-fab; one has to make his or her own trend out of the trendy. Walking the city as if one is straight out of an Elle fashion editorial doesn’t cut it; one has to be his or her own walking catalog. Work with pieces that have been reworked, create something out of that which has been recreated.

Folded & Hung, purveyor of trendy urbanwear, better known as F&H (a shortcut inspired by the pithy popularity of other successful fashion acronyms such as D&G and H&M) is carrier of fashion pieces just begging to be creatively dissected. On their own, F&H’s merchandise are already an eye candy’s worth of a shopping binge. Their new collection is a motley selection of skin-baring two-piece ensembles, detailed tops, and earth tones for women. This season’s menswear pay homage to stripes that feature intricate detailing such as embroidery, and knitwear in bright colors.

Given a second look, an itch overcomes to wear F&H’s new offerings differently. The men’s shirt have cuts narrow enough that they can cross over to a woman’s wardrobe. Worn with a belt or tied at the waist, they easily become "his to hers" property. The more detailed tops are experiment-worthy; wearing them back-to-front makes updates your style choices within an eyeblink, and professes much about your ingenuity.

Layering is a style process that has more or less rounded up the 21st century fashionista’s aesthetic.Tropical climate and humidity waved away, we have become masters at making the most of statement "the more, the merrier." There are no restrictions for what we pull over our bare necessities. Jackets aren’t necessarily the only top-overs now. Working with Folded & Hung’s pieces, an intricately knotted halter (hand-knotted by F&H mainman Ronald Pineda) becomes an undershirt for a wrap top, a dress shirt goes under a tube top, and a short flouncy skirt can easily go from bottom to top when worn over jeans. It’s a "do as you please" society with the objective of looking good – and different.

Mix and match is also a lot easier now. Rugged plays up to dressy just fine – Folded & Hung’s best-selling denim line are easily pairable with their ruffled or satin tops – and tough chick details are fast becoming the best neutralizer for frilly feminine styles. Wear a pair of knee—high boots with a skirt in soft fabric and you won’t be too far off from the DKNY catwalk. Color combinations have also been given more leeway. Who cares if you put the entire ROYGBIV spectrum in one outfit? Just make sure you back it up by a truckload of confidence. Color blindness is never an issue when it comes to fashion. Just look to Galliano and Versace’s rainbow-inspired schemes for reassurance.

People have been saying for the last couple of years that the eighties style code will be big in the 21st century. It’s horrifying thinking about how shoulder pads and ripped stockings can fit in today’s cityscape but it’s also inspiring to believe that today’s style lovers know more sense than to let pleated baston pants ruin their stylized ensembles. We know better than to make those decades mistakes as our own. It’s the era of the self and the individual. You see it in the workplace, new age teachings, and in fashion. The urbanite is now his or her own personal stylist. Boutiques are realizing more than ever that we work with clothing in pretty much the same way we work with our lives: we try to acquire as much as we can, bleed all possibilities dry. We’re becoming more creative so as not to tire out fashion’s allure. And Folded & Hung is not one to stand in the path our creative juices run.

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Folded & Hung has branches in Glorietta 2, Robinson’s Place Ermita, Festival Mall. Wade has branches in Glorietta and Galleria East Wing.