MANILA, Philippines — Ninety “ternos” or traditional Filipino costumes – 60 from regions and 30 from mentors and fashion industry experts – will be on display on November 11 at the culmination of Ternocon, a terno making convention and contest for regional designers at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Ternocon aims to encourage the use of the “terno” as a popular form of formal dress; to connect the knowledge and skills from Fashioning The Terno – Phase 1 to a contemporary application in terno making; and to inspire and motivate regional designers to create “ternos” that are at par with the construction skills of senior fashion designers.
The CCP Cultural Exchange Department and Bench jointly implemented the 2017 Mentoring Program held in the cities of Vigan, Bacolod and General Santos from July, August and December. The program was successfully finished by 43 local designers, artists, educators and cultural workers involved in theater, dance, and heritage conservation from 24 provinces/communities nationwide.
From 45 workshop participants in 2017, Ternocon has selected 30 finalists from all over the Philippines – including fashion designers, teachers, beaders, embroiders, cultural workers. The 30 were chosen from the 2017 phase 1 participants who come from 17 provinces/local communities nationwide. Each finalist must design, create and execute one cocktail “balintawak terno” and one formal “terno.”
Of the chosen finalists, it was the designers from Mindanao that blew the mind of one of the mentors, celebrity fashion designer and “Manila’s Fashion Prince” Inno Sotto.
“The designers from Mindanao, they have always been far away from us, but it was because of that they maximized everything – use of colors, craftsmanship, embroidery,” enthused Sotto, who focused on teaching fabric behavior among the finalists as knowledge of fabric, he said, was the secret of great Filipino designers like Ben Farrales and Christian Espiritu.
The finalists are being mentored by some of the county’s top professional designers that include JC Buendia, Cary Santiago, and Len Cabili.
Mentorship, said Sotto, is vital in the Philippines, especially since the country does not have its own costume institute for research.
After over a year of holding the convention, CCP Vice President and Artistic Director Chris Millado said that first, they realized that there is a large pool of untapped talents from the regions. Second, they found out that if given the proper resources – research, technique, and mentors, these untapped talents can be harnessed.
He said, the convention has also become an avenue to also check the regions’ resources and to see how the regions can sustain the project beyond the contest.
“There is a lot of real talent and genuine enthusiasm in the regions, so it’s very encouraging to go the extra mile for the participants,” said Ternocon lead facilitator and instructor Gino Gonzales.
“Our goal is to propagate the use of the terno and give the participants a unique opportunity to shine on a national level.”
Gonzales, together with Mark Lewis Higgins, also curates Slim’s Fashion & Arts School’s Exhibition of Student Work 2018, which will open on September 27 at the SM Megamall Fashion Hall.