METROWEAR GALA: Pretty decent, blah, & just plain ‘frugly’

Twenty-three designers in one group show sounds like a task to watch and review.

But by sheer number and statistics alone, it should follow that at least some of the designs should be worth watching.

I’m talking about the Metrowear Gala last Thursday at the Rockwell Tent.

Presented by Metro magazine and Samsung, the tight, seamless show directed by Jackie Aquino was at least fast and painless to sit through.

And thank God many of the designers came up with pretty decent work, while a few were blah and some were just plain frugly (freakin’ ugly).

Arranged alphabetically, the show opened with Ivarluski Aseron and ended with Lulu Tan Gan.

My thoughts:

Ivar had a great/interesting concept of layering sheer fabric over a patchwork lining. But something was off with his shapes.

Ivar created an extension of that space-age/retro concept he showed a couple of Metrowears ago.

I like that Ivar thinks of himself when he designs, as opposed to designers who just think of clients.

As a stylist friend says, Ivarluski is not for everybody. Damn right. I can’t think of anyone who can carry these, but I’m sure a lot of his fans would really love it.

Vittorio Barba seemed really inspired with his black, gray and white collection that was very Japanese, very wearable and marketable. Although he didn’t reinvent the wheel, his proportions were great and the fabrication really worked. This was my favorite collection in the whole show – simple, current and how ready-to-wear should be.

I hope he won’t kill me, but I’m not too crazy about JC Buendia’s sweet and poufy floral collection that reminded me of feminine wash.

The surprise collaboration between Patrice Ramos Diaz and Ignacio Loyola resulted in retro long dresses using vintage fabric and these beautiful, amazing shoes that made the collection more interesting. Asked why they teamed up, Patrice simply answered, "Wala lang." We would love to see more stuff by these two.

Rhett Eala had a nice short retro dress worn by Ria Bolivar. I love that. But his sleeveless printed/shimmery menswear was lacking in masculinity.

Just say no to OJ Hofer’s costumey collection of black and gold that spells N-I-N-J-A. The superhero/Panday outfits with the amulets and fluff would have been cool – had it been 1982 in Goldmine disco. I think.

My hard-to-please stylist friend really loved Jesus Lloren’s collection, which he described as "couturey na malinis. He only did three sets but I thought it was a tight collection. It’s very him, you know, couture-couture. He does stuff like that."

Anthony Nocom tried to give his menswear a twist by doing the jackets in satin. But most of the collection pieces looked like they were just pulled off the racks in SM.

A lot of bad feedback on Tippi Ocampo’s stuff. I don’t even want to go there.

You either love or hate Frederick Peralta’s show-stopping pieces. However, I feel indifferent to his zebra-stripe gowns or exaggerated palazzos, which were, to his credit, very well-constructed. Plus, a couple of my friends really loved them.

Cary Santiago wins People’s Choice Award, hands down, with his long printed gowns in black and white and the complicated beige gowns made of strips of fabric, hand-sewn, to form lean and slim fluid shapes. The audience simply loved it. He was the big surprise of the evening and it feels like he’s going to be Manila’s next big thing.

Joey Samson stuck to his trademark simplicity with a few twists and had some very cute pieces that were lovely, but none earth-shattering (which is not a bad thing).

Lulu Tan Gan showed a very feminine cruise collection in lovely colors that was very Lulu, period.

And the rest of the designers showed safe stuff, neither good nor bad, rather unremarkable stuff. A stylist friend noted there were many nice pieces that were hard to appreciate on models whose hair and makeup made them look older, not fresh.

"Spring/summer pa man din," he added.