Strands of Silk and Wonder

It began with one tenuous filament from a single cocoon, and a single hand sliding a shuttle across a solitary handloom. The filament became a thread, then many threads came together in many looms worked by many hands to become cloth so fine, so delicate, so luminous, so ethereal, so sensual.

The dream of Philippine silk came long ago to designer Jean Goulbourn, who felt it was not enough to simply design and manufacture clothes that women picked off her shelves as quickly as she put them there. The dream, like the filament that unravels from a cocoon, spun unto itself then burst forth when she launched Silk Cocoon and a distinctive line of Philippine-inspired formal wear that got the stamp of international acceptance when heads of state of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) donned Silk Cocoon barongs during the summit in Manila in 1996.

Jean recently took Silk Cocoon beyond fashion with an export line of fabrics for home interiors. She was the guest designer for the Movement 8 setting at the Salone show in Milan, where her fabrics complemented the Budji Layug designed setting of the talented and celebrated Movement 8 designers. She then collaborated with Ed Calma on the Philippine pavilion at the Nagoya Expo, a project that reaped top honors (see following page).

This week, Silk Cocoon celebrates its 11th year with a show that is more than fashion and design, featuring mother and daughter designers Jean and Katrina Goulbourn. "Tapestry" will showcase the unique silk-based fabrics transformed into outfits that stretch fantasy and whimsy.

Explains Katrina: "Tapestry came together as a pure collaboration between my mother and myself. I wanted inspiration to be drawn from the more tangible beauty of nature and a play on fabric textures, but my mother wanted to bring in an intangible quality to the collection, weaving relationships and dreams together. The end result tells a story that is something more than just the physical or the mental."

The November 11 invitational show at the Ayala Museum is sponsored by Rustan’s Essenses, San Miguel Corporation, Globe Platinum, HSBC and Bizu Patisserie, and will benefit Gawad Kalinga and livelihood projects at Maryville Village and Sitio Ruby.

All photographs on this spread are by Giampiero Gastaldi, who has done extensive work with Italian Vogue, Korean Vogue and Vogue Bambini, as well as Women’s Wear Daily. He has also photographed ad campaigns for Bulgari, Swarovski, Ferragamo and Costume Nacional. Shuttling between Paris, Milan, Seoul, and Shanghai, Giampiero nevertheless counts Manila as his second home.

Textile and fashion designer Jean Goulbourn of Silk Cocoon teamed up with designer Ed Calma for the prize-winning Philippine pavilion at the Nagoya Expo in Japan (far right). The sheerness of Philippine hand-woven silk highlighted the play of light that gave the pavilion a mesmerizingly ethereal yet sensual quality.

Explains Calma: "The form of the Philippine pavilion uses the architectural spatial translations of elements from a deconstructed coconut tree. These elements produce a monochromatic and quiet space enclosing a multi-sensory experience of the Philippines. The aluminum strips on the façade is an abstraction of the dense woven shell of the coconut, where Mangyan poetry in English and Japanese translations is laser cut on each strip. The exhibit mounds on the floor were derived from the shallow root system of the coconut tree, forming a mini-museum. Visitors experience a unique quality of light in the pavilion through projected images of the Philippines on silk-lined walls. Essential oils and natural perfumes envelop visitors in a cocoon-like environment in the sphere, introducing visitors to various experiences of well-being."