The Filipino identity is tailored with pride

The ink has since dried up. Yet, in the permanent stroke of two pens, a new chapter in Philippine fashion education was born. It was not just a ceremonial signing when Mark Lewis Higgins, son of the late National Artist Salvacion Lim Higgins, entrusted his mother’s legacy to the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. It was a solemn promise of commitment to continuity. In that precise, particular moment, history met the future.

Beside Higgins stood Br. Edmundo “Dodo” Fernandez FSC, Benilde’s president, who spoke with the conviction of a steward more than an administrator.

“We want to keep the tradition, knowledge and history of Slim’s and introduce it to a new generation of Filipinos,” Br. Dodo said.

But now that the agreement has been sealed — what’s next?

On one hand, there are the tangible treasures: the more than 300 gowns and dresses of couture brilliance, an extensive collection of international and domestic magazines all from 1939, the valuable fashion textbooks, and the priceless archives.

All are now sound and safe within the still-to-be-opened Benilde Fashion Museum, headed by architect Gerry Torres. This historical collection will be testimonies and embodiments of a memory, a living reminder of Salvacion Lim Higgins, the National Artist for fashion design who dared to build a fashion school in 1960 with her sister Purificacion out of vision and grit — the Slim’s Fashion and Arts School, the oldest fashion school in the Philippines. It is set to celebrate its 65th anniversary in October.  

“The museum will be the caretaker of the clothes and archives of Slim’s. The materials will be used for exhibition, as a way to share to the public, will be conserved as valuable design artifacts, and will be accessed by the students as study collections,” Torres told The STAR.

He added: “They will be valuable additions to the goal of completing a cross-section of Philippine couture beginning from the 20th century onwards.

“In addition, we want to send a message that finally, the country has a museum dedicated to honor the fashion legacy. And that we hope to get everyone’s support whether it’s in completing the collection, collaborating, or supporting the museum by visiting or as a donor, to ensure that it will fulfill its mandates — collecting, conservation, exhibition and education.”

With the commitment of Slim’s to Benilde, the college has something precious which simply cannot be cased or displayed. “This is the much-admired curriculum, the ‘Slim’s Method,’ the discipline of precision that molded the likes of fashion designers of note like Michael Cinco, Joey Samson, Albert Andrada, Cesar Gaupo, Martin Bautista, and many more,” said Christine Cheryl Benet, the newly minted director of the Slim’s Fashion and Arts School, an institute of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

With the intangibles, ironically, permanence matters most: not only in preserving, but in mentoring and monitoring, making certain that trusted skills painstakingly passed down will not be lost in modernity.

Benet understands and accepts this crucial responsibility well. When asked which portions of Slim’s curriculum she looks forward to adapting, she answered with certainty: “Slim’s technical courses, particularly Dressmaking, Bespoke Tailoring and Draping.”

These, she explained, “will be carefully woven into Benilde’s Fashion Design and Merchandising Program, reshaped to fit the structure of its academic offerings.”

Imagine couture hand-stitching finding its way to new hands, men’s patternmaking revisited by fresh eyes, fabric manipulation serving as the springboard for new endless possibilities of creativity!

Benet said Slim’s Fashion and Arts School will not disappear into Benilde’s larger fold. It will go on offering its long programs — for younger students dreaming their way to college and for professionals seeking to expand their practice. This dual path, Benet believes, makes fashion education more inclusive.

“We see the school as an avenue to make Benildean fashion education more accessible to different sectors of our society,” she said.

“The fashion industry is incredibly diverse. It is made up not only of college degree holders, but also of artisans and actual makers, all of whom are vital to keeping our industry alive and relevant,” Benet added.

Housing Slim’s under Benilde, she explained, ensures that not only designers but also cutters, sewers, embroiderers, and artisans will be recognized as the lifeblood of fashion.

Preserving the past is not only about nostalgia — Slim’s legacy empowers future creators with roots to anchor them, and wings to let them soar.

Slim’s and Benilde now walk together — shaping a fashion education that is globally competitive, rooted in history, and proudly Filipino. The industry is often accused of being fleeting, where styles and trends vanish as quickly as they come in vogue. This landmark union reminds us of what truly lasts: the Filipino identity, tailored with pride, stitched with care and embroidered with resilience.

Yes, the ink has dried. But from that permanence springs new beginnings. And in God’s own time, the story of Slim’s will not just endure — it will flourish in the hands of a new generation. *