Out of the closet

Now that big name brands seem to have lost their patina with numerous fakes and mass marketing, aggressive fashion-forward soldiers now try to outdo each other with the "next new thing."

This is not found in the high-stepping centers of the world. The next new blessed something is usually created from word of mouth. Czarina Villa is one of the touted ones. Although she graduated two years ago and has apprenticed with masters like Frederick Peralta and worked as an in-house designer for the local brand Oxygen, Cza is stepping out on her own just now.

She has dressed showbiz princesses such as Kristine and Kathleen Hermosa and Karel Marquez, making her choices as she goes along. Her heart lies in making dramatic couture outfits, but she is also looking into the possibility of creating a few ready-to-wear pieces available in limited numbers.

Fashion has always been in her blood. "It has been a passion, even as a child, when I would design and hand-sew clothes for my Barbie dolls. I was seven then and I swore to myself that I would be doing that for the rest of my life. Of course, my stitching skills were horrible at the time but I always had so much pride in my craft," Cza shares.

Her cleverly manipulated styles scream of a steely austerity toned down with a soft but sophisticated feminine touch. She refers to old-school glamour as inspiration and lets the fluidity of fabric and draping techniques do the talking. Very Kate Hepburn actually.

Czarina counts local designers Ivarluski Aseron ("The man is a genius! Very cutting edge. He has excellent taste and he knows what he’s doing"), Inno Sotto, Rhett Eala and friend Mitzi Quilendrino as templates of genius in fashion.

So what does it all mean to her? She describes style as "that thing that speaks for you even before you open your mouth. It can either be a way of life, a popular taste at a given time or a way of expressing something. Style to me is your personal taste. A way of putting things together." You can already see that, no matter what Cza does, couture will be her middle name.

* * *

E-mail the designer at perkyvixen@yahoo.com.