Milestones and new developments cement Cebu's fashion capital status

MANILA, Philippines - The Queen City's retail scene is set to grow even bigger if Ayala Center Cebu's Style Souk weekend were an indication. Drawing in the shopping crowd from June 21 to 24 were participating fashion, accessories, and lifestyle brands Lava, Premium Concepts, Oro China, Nima Bags and Accessories, Hotpink, Memo, Oxygen, Filippo, Skintech, Collage, What A Girl Wants, Skechers, and Maze. 

Aside from the great discounts and deals on offer, Style Souk was also a venue for Cebu's fashion insiders to look back at how the city's style scene has evolved through the years, and how it could only grow stronger in the future with the flux of Cebuano talents and brands making their marks.

Imagine a time when Elsa Klensch was a huge fashion influence in the media, even bigger than Anna Wintour. Imagine as well a time when international designer Furne One created minimalist pieces such as sleek white bias-cut gowns. Both these periods marked the nascence of Cebu’s fashion scene in the mid-‘90s, when it was still a city waking up to the opening of two major malls and a luxury resort in the region. Ayala Center Cebu had just opened in 1995 and the buzz on the potential of the region’s design industry was growing louder with Klensch’s visit to the city in 1996 when she organized an exhibit of locally made furniture. It was a perfect moment for Cebuano creatives to organize the scene and pave the way for local fashion and design to progress, and thus Zee Lifestyle was born, the first to chronicle the burgeoning Cebu fashion design scene.

Zee la vie: Designer and Zee Lifestyle fashion editor Oj Hoffer (extreme right) talked about the growth of the Cebu fashion scene with (from left to right) Caroline Malagar of Cebuano retail label Lava, Pinky Gabutan of Rustan’s, and Zee Lifestyle trends editor Mia Arcenas.

More than 15 years later, it is still the premiere lifestyle title in the region. “We’ve seen it all,” stated fashion editor and designer Oj Hoffer, who has been with the magazine since it started, during Zee’s presentation on the evolution of the Cebuano fashion scene at Style Souk last June 23. From the prevalent minimalism of the mid- to late-’90s to the more embellished and diversified looks of the ‘00s and beyond, the Zee team has presented the rising trends from the global scene with the help of both established and then up-and-coming talents: Wig Tysmans, Joji Lloren, Michael Cinco, Ito Curata, Cary Santiago, and more. With its interesting features on society personalities and high fashion editorials, Zee has seen and reported on the names, styles and movements that have made their marks not just in Cebu’s fashion history but the whole country’s as well, a testament to Cebu’s status as a certifiable fashion capital independent of Manila.

Another indication of this is the University of San Carlos’ growing College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA), which now offers a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design. At the June 24 Style Souk, CAFA teacher Peewee Senining, dubbed as Cebu’s prince of fun wear, introduced some of the department’s star students who have been joining and winning local design competitions with their pieces. “Fashion design is an expensive course,” Senining admitted. “But for those who have a passion for fashion, it is an important step to take so they would know how to build a career in the industry.” CAFA’s fashion design program currently has less than 10 senior students — it opened only in 2009 — but more are enrolling each year; Mike Yapching, a finalist at last year’s Star Creation in Singapore, is currently a student of the program. With more and more talents from Cebu entering the fashion industry, it is but natural that a fashion design program has been set up in the city to hone younger generations of artists and designers.

School spirit: University of San Carlos College of Architecture and Fine Arts teacher and designer Peewee Senining (left) introduces some of the school’s star students in its Fashion Design bachelor’s degree program. Behind him are a couple of the students’ designs.

On Style Souk’s last day, fashion and beauty became more accessible with a program hosted by ABS-CBN’s MagTV Na!'s Phoebe Fernandez. Cebuano designer Dexter Alazas shared tips on the biggest trends of the year and how to wear them, with models wearing stylishly versatile looks styled by Alazas and sourced from Cebu-grown labels Lava and What A Girl Wants. Makeup artist Jomer Arances also gave a demo on how Cebuanas can put their best face forward from day to night.

* * *

Style Souk is a part of Style Origin, a collaborative effort between Ayala Malls, The Philippine STAR, and Tiger 22, supported by Visa, Globe, and Samsung.