A knit trick to modernize piña

In Shanghai, the dress code for the gala night of the 35th anniversary of the Filipino/Chinese Friendship Day at the Filipino Pavilion of the Expo was Filipiniana.

Since I was in the entourage of Tourism Undersecretary Cynthia Carrion, I had to comply with the dress code. I brought along my one and only Filipiniana outfit — a dramatic black terno with red floral appliqués. When I unpacked it on the day of the event, I realized it needed to be pressed by an expert as it was so crumpled and the delicate lace floral appliqués could be ruined. 

Because of the hectic schedule, I literally had no time to have it pressed and had no choice but to wear a crumpled Filpiniana terno. When I arrived in Manila, I mentioned this to one of my fashion icons, designer Lulu Tan Gan, and she reprimanded me for not consulting her about the Filipiniana outfit. “You have seen my new collection. I have reinvented my knitwear and I now have a travel-friendly Filipiniana collection!” 

She continued, “I needed change. I needed to move on.”

Lulu is all growing into a bigger and more challenging platform — and she’s bringing her knits along with her. “I still love knitwear, but in the second phase of my career, I believe it is giving back time,” Lulu muses. “I want to promote Filipino fabrics, aside from just Filipino fashion and design. This will be reflected in the new phase of Tan-Gan, which highlights our piña wear.”

The chosen indigenous fabric to grace Tan-Gan’s more luxurious phase is the piña. Tan-Gan’s designs, however, will veer away from utilizing it the traditional way. Transforming a material conventionally known to be too stiff, costume-y, and expensive is the design challenge Lulu decided to embark on. Not departing from her quality knits, Lulu wanted to soften the look of piña by combining it with the fabric she knows best. This challenge becomes the perfect inspiration for her new designs. 

“Successfully marrying two different fabrics was a challenge, especially when the end-product has to be wearable and feasible as a garment,” says Lulu. 

According to her, there were several factors in the product development stage that made the process even more challenging like the contrasting construction, color, texture, and fall of the garments. Construction-wise, because knit fabric stretches easily while indigenous weave does not, it was important to use the right fabric for the right part of the garment. To make both the knits and the piña comfortably fit and flatter the figure, Lulu and her team had to apply piña to the areas where they need the design to be stiff and apply knits to where they need the material to collapse.

“The challenge in the color was getting the right tone of knit to match the nostalgic vintage color and feel of old piña. Matching the tone allows the indigenous material to keep its natural color. Color dyes come out differently depending on fiber content and material and we spent time experimenting on coloring techniques to get the correct color palette,” Lulu says.

Getting the right texture and fall of the finished garments was the last challenge Lulu’s team faced. Texture-wise, knit is more tactile and strong while indigenous weaves are very fine and fragile. 

“In order to marry the knit and piña together we had to source much finer yarns to create finer knitted fabrics for it to mix well with the tenderness of the piña,” Lulu says. “When it comes to the fall of the fabric, she says that “piña has the tendency to float, while knits collapse, so sometimes, the team had to sew some hidden trapezes to get the knits to float with the piña.”

The technical challenges comprise a chunk of how the new Tan-Gan collection puts on the pedestal the indigenous fabrics while combining them with universal design aesthetics. The tedious and detailed processes contribute to a Filipino collection worthy of global appreciation. “After so much modern materials, there is nothing more soothing than working with materials that are indigenous,” Lulu says. “Nothing can replace the uniqueness and visual feel of hand-made materials.”

The search for the roots and identity of today’s Filipino fashion taste is something that has clearly influenced the Tan-Gan piña wear. Alongside this is Lulu’s effort to make traditional and indigenous materials more relatable and wearable for a generation that is in love with traveling in a borderless world.

“I felt the future of knits as a travel-friendly material some 30 years ago, and I haven’t changed my mind,” Lulu says. This time, traveling with a piña-and-knit creation is akin to traveling in high style and haute couture as the whole collection is 98-percent hand-loomed, hand-sewn, and hand-embroidered.

Tan-Gan’s piña wear collections include piña-knit pieces that can be worn elegantly at work and casually if paired with classy jeans. They can also be for attending parties or for walking down the aisle. Combining piña with knit makes it appropriate for any occasion, especially for jet-set parties and weddings.

For Lulu, wearing a Filipino trademark is tantamount to expressing one’s Filipino identity. “Filipinos will also always get compliments wearing a Filipino design because it is unique yet it possesses a universal appeal,” says Lulu. “My vision is to encourage the use of indigenous wear as a Filipino. It is fashion that you can pass on to generations.”

Moving forward with a new twist to an established brand, Lulu Tan-Gan puts high value on the sustainability not only of her designs but also of her vision. Staying put as the creative director of Tan-Gan, Lulu has found in young designer Solenn Heussaff the perfect collaborator. With the foresight to create something lasting that is reminiscent of tradition but possessing contemporary aesthetics, Lulu is poised for growth, bringing the industry and the people behind it with her.