Clare Henney: Philippine Fashion Week 2012 Holiday Collection
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I had the chance to attend a show for Philippine Fashion Week. It was the 2012 Holiday Collection of designers Avel Bacudio, Chris Diaz, Eric Delos Santos and Raoul Ramirez. I just want to share with everyone what I saw and what I thought of each collection. Please take note that I am not in the fashion industry so my comments will be mostly that from a commoner (ala Andrea from Devil Wears Prada before she got glammed up).
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The show was opened with the collection of Avel Bacudio. Model/celebrity Wilma Doesnt opened the show in a very revealing black and white outfit. This was followed by a slew of models all in very well-tailored clothing bathed in monochromatic colors, with metallic accents to boot. What I loved about Avel’s collection was that everything looked so clean. The tailoring of the jackets, the deconstructed look of some of the outfits all looked polished. I also loved that when it came to menswear, none of the outfits looked alike. With exception to color, none of them looked even slightly similar to the other. I think that showed how creative Avel can be. For the women’s outfits, I fell in love with the full, layered skirts. I love that the clothes are all wearable — stuff that will not just be for the runway but something you can see (or imagine) yourself wearing at one occasion or another.
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The next collection was from Chris Diaz. His collection had the winter feel with the fur and suede that he used for most of his clothes. He made use of darker colors/shades as well. I’m not a fashionista and I am not a fashion critic but from an ordinary person’s point of view I just couldn’t get myself to like this collection. With the exception of one red dress (2nd row, 4th from the left of the photo), everything felt old (maybe because of the suede) and unwearable. I didn’t like how the material seemed to accent the wrong parts of the models as well — at one point one model’s tummy (as little as it was) looked big in her dress.
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The third collection, which was the most fun to watch for me, was from Eric Delos Santos. I said it was fun because he was the only designer who had a pop song playing while the models walked the ramp. Yes, it was an old song but Let’s Dance by Donna Summer was just so fun to listen to and fit the style of the outfits presented. I was so happy to see Ms. Marina Benipayo open the show in this really beautiful red dress. I swear this woman has not aged. She just has this glow about her and it made the dress seem even more appealing. She really worked it! Eric Delos Santos made use of the colors red, black and silver. I love that he had shiny outfits that evoked that fun disco feel that the 70s song playing was giving off. I also find it appealing that while the clothes were not that form-fitting, they still gave off a flattering, sexy look.
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Last to present his collection was Raoul Ramirez. To me his collection matched the theme music that sounded very Parisian. His clothes all looked very classy and sophisticated. Most of the outfits for the women were very sexy and form-fitting and featured a lot of long sleeves or gloves that covered the arms. For the men, I have to say that his clothes seemed pretty much the same. Maybe because they were in just one color so they all looked alike. Ramirez made use of colors similar to Chris Diaz (dark shades of yellow, red and purple) except that he also had gold outfits as well. As a whole I thought it was a good show. I loved Avel Bacudio’s clothes because they are so wearable. I loved Eric Delos Santos’ clothes because they looked fun. While I loved Raoul Ramirez’ collection, I don’t think I’m sophisticated enough to pull it off and I am sorry to Chris Diaz, but with the exception of that red dress, I can’t imagine wearing any of his outfits. I think it’s the suede. It just seems to old-person-material to me.
Photo Source: Philippine Fashion Week Live