Knit Wit

What Issey Miyake did to pleats, Lulu Tan Gan has easily done for knits. For over two decades, Tan Gan has been one of the strongest fashion houses to survive the fickle tastes of a trend-driven shopping culture. A surprising feat as it survived without hype, with minimal glitter, and relying mostly on its cult following of whom have remained loyal.

Meeting Lulu Tan Gan you will instantly understand why. I remember first meeting her when I shared the same school with one of her daughters Samantha. I was 10 years old and she came to school to give a talk on the garment industry. I could barely remember what she said then, rather what I recalled more vividly was how I thought she was the most awesome looking mother by far.

Fourteen years later, she still is one of the most amazing-looking mothers, and add to that tycoon, visionary and fashion savant. Whether it is her gilded highlights that frame her tanned face, the blaring red lipstick that seems always appropriate even before breakfast, or her platforms which give an indication of Lulu's attitude of never stooping down to anyone, every part of her is compelling.

She started out like many designers, doing the wrong course in college. However, Lulu listened to her heart and enrolled in design courses, which eventually landed her a lucrative design job at Shoemart, one of the country’s biggest retail powerhouses. Lulu to this day still enjoys the harmonious relationship with the giant. Its belief in her abilities has allowed her to experiment and play with her line, much to our benefit.

Her designs resonate the same intriguing charm as the woman herself. Unlike other designers who get a feel of the trend barometer by soaking up the latest In Style or what have you for inspiration, Lulu finds it instead in mistakes. She takes to heart the saying that it’s not the destination that counts but the journey, "What makes some pieces unique and original is when I disregard my sketches and start to manipulate the material on my body. I allow the material to misalign, to stay unseamed, to fall off in one part of the body. As for the mistakes that my sample maker has made, I turn it into a positive sign, a new shape, a new pattern! And why not? I would say my process is normal until the last stage of sampling." She adds, "I think creating, as in creating an original design, can never be done in a computer. When I sketch, many times I find my hand creating a new pattern. It is an accident of a line that gives it a totally new shape. During the fitting too, one can create a new shape just getting inspired by how the material falls."

The result: the ultimate knit wit collection, seasonal lineups that defy the ephemeral predilections of fashion and tickle the curiosity of one’s imagination. From free-flowing blousons streaked with diaphanous "leaves"‚ to elegant panels of Grecian- style draping that masquerade as a jump suit to tarty minis in colors as vivacious as the designer herself – to say that a Tan Gan is ordinary is sacrilege to the religion of aesthetics.

Aside from her ingenious take on an ordinarily banally handled fabric (think marmy sweaters and scary Coney Island jumpsuits) Lulu has also been a strong arm in elevating the local fashion industry into what it is now. She led the Philippine fashion associations FDG, then FDCP to organize the mission to continuously support the fashion industry, through continuous participation in the International Young Fashion Designers Competition in Paris, France.

She also successfully spearheaded the partnership of council and government (Department of Trade and Industry, through GTEB-Garment and Textile Export Board), to a joint-participation in the International Young Fashion Designers Competition in Paris, supporting local talent that would eventually would work hand in hand with garment groups. The continued mission is to professionalize and strengthen fashion designers‚ educational foundation and to reorient garment and textile manufacturers‚ with a view on product development by organizing programs related to industry.

Lulu also initiated the partnership of Department of Trade and Industry, through GTEB and the French Embassy's Cultural and Communications Office in Manila, to assist by providing fashion industry professionals from a top fashion school in Paris, ESMOD. Instructors were flown into Manila to organize the seminar and workshop for the fashion and garment industry.

This season Lulu sees a garden of possibilities. "It's a feminine summer, an airy fair summer in white and yellow, accented by light leaf green, sky blue and hot bougainvillea pink. It's a time for summery fluid capes and draped tops over easy gartered pants, shorts and skirts."

Lulu is an auteur in every way. For over two decades, despite her constant presence in the scene that tires of its darlings like Liz does of her husbands, Lulu remains to be one of its most effervescent stars.

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E-mail me at ystylecrew@yahoo.com.