Fashion Watch Report: Ivarluski Aseron designs his own bold prints with soft silhouettes

MANILA, Philippines - Ivarluski Aseron’s name is almost synonymous now with geometric shapes and almost sculptural details in his designs and his spring-summer 2012 collection was no exception. Inspired by a walk under a canopy in a man-made forest in Bohol, and aptly titled “Foliage,” most of his 20-piece collection displayed an original print of a photograph the designer took of a leafy canopy he stood under in wonder during a recent holiday. “I got inspired by this photo and this is why I used lots of greens, with whites and grays to balance,” shares Aseron. Appearing as an accent on a jacket sleeve or as an entire piece such as an eye-catching muumuu dress, the foliage print from afar almost looked like an exotic animal skin and added movement to an otherwise structured piece such as a strapless knee-length dress with a makeshift collar. Other stunners included a billowy white blouse that offset palazzo pants in the same rich green foliage print. Aseron’s love of the forest didn’t stop at prints but was exhibited in a white crepe dress cut into leaf shapes and individually hand-sewn together. “It was actually the first piece I was working on and the last one to be finished,” explains the designer. This was probably due to the intricacy of the workmanship, making it look like a single piece that was fused together by Mother Nature herself. Other interesting pieces included a calf-length dress with foliage printed sleeves and a hoodie that reminded me of a chameleon when pulled over the head as well as a dress that featured a full skirt in front and a pencil skirt at the back. Aseron’s pieces combined crepe, satin, net, stretch tulle and nylon allowing for movement yet a certain amount of sturdiness in the finished product. There was nothing flimsy about any of the pieces, perhaps because Aseron designs for, as he says, “A woman who knows what she wants and who can hold her own anywhere she is.”