Good luxe, Robin Tomas
One word to describe Robin Tomas’ very first collection showing in Manila, or rather, his career as a designer: rich. Both in look and feel.
Taking cue from cultural influences — the ‘20s, ‘70s, ‘80s and the Roman times — and exotic locales — India and Tibet — Tomas unveiled a collection that combined a playfully precise use of elaborate beadwork, luxurious fabrics and a flippant approach to wearability. Focusing mostly on cocktail wear and evening gowns, Tomas’ design tapestry evokes images of the low-key, high-class, confidence-brimming set — less ladies who lunch in elaborate restaurant settings, more power women who lounge about sipping olive-dressed dry martinis in their own penthouse living rooms after a full day’s work (be it pro-bono or otherwise).
His penchant for chic elegance probably all hearkens back to his time at Valentino, where he apprenticed while a student at Parsons School of Design in New York. Tomas also logged in training with Anna Sui. When he graduated top of the class, however, Tomas took leave of his red carpet penchant and designed menswear for Gap International’s European and Japanese markets, after which he did the same in Tommy Hilfiger. Tomas also did a turn at J Crew, where he designed for men and children. Having proven his mettle in sartorial wear, Tomas decided he wanted to explore at length designing for women. “One of the reasons I wanted to do this show was so I could really work on my passion, which is womenswear.” Taking what he had gathered from designing men’s clothing — stricter focus on detail and fit — Tomas came up with womenswear that, though decidedly feminine, follows a classic tailoring style that equates glamour with understated sexiness.
Tomas’ use of opulent fabric such as brocade, lamé, charmeuse, organza, chiffon, jersey, and georgette greatly contributes to the class evocation. He fashions these into pieces that are wearable for sure, but only the real confident can effortlessly pull off: on one end of the spectrum, loose and fluid pieces such as swishy harem pants, asymmetric Grecian-style gowns, minidresses that balloon at the hip, filmy floral gowns; on the other, structured pieces that cinch in the waist such as knee-length shift dresses done all in brocade, stiff bustiers and even stiffer corsets.
And in each piece, Tomas doesn’t hold back. Embellishments are at the core of the young designer’s collection: beading, ruffle details, appliqués, and other painstakingly-created frippery. “Beading is such a novelty in New York because labor costs are so high,” Tomas explains. “Kaya nasabik ako dito.” Many pieces were gorgeously adorned with beads and sequins, most of these bought in India, or dressed up with beaded bibs. Rather than smatter his beadwork all over a single piece, Tomas concentrates on a single area, as he did by affixing beautifully-beaded appliqués on the shoulders of a red asymmetric charmeuse dress and a teal blue georgette pant gown.
Sometimes the back gets the brunt of the beadwork: Pearls trail from the back of a few creations, while a short canary yellow georgette dress, while pretty from the front, becomes amazing with a fully-beaded back. “Goodbye details” as Tomas calls them. “You see this woman at a party. Her dress is nice enough, but when she turns to leave, you see her back and there’s still something there.”
If he doesn’t dress up the back with beads, Tomas leaves them bare. One of the stars in Tomas’ show is a smoke grey cocktail dress beautifully made of rubber lace (a novelty material made by a particular designer in New York) with sequined tulle hanging out from under the hem. Cinched at the waist and with the skirt fanning out in sculpted pleats, the dress becomes even more interesting with a back cut very low to the waist in a V. If the beading and harem pants are reminiscent of India and the asymmetric dresses of ancient Rome, this dress is something Carrie Bradshaw will actually wear; this dress is nothing but New York.
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