My Work: Yvonne

Yvonne, a doctor based in the US, was looking for a designer for her wedding in Manila. Her sister, Ylaine offered to help look for one and found me in Facebook. They both agreed that my style suited their style best, clean, structural, classic but with a bit of whimsy. Yvonne sent me a few pictures for ideas, one of them was a clutch in cobalt blue and orange, the colors of which she really liked. I assigned these colors for the entourage, composed mostly of the children in their family. For her gown, she wanted a modern, structured neckline. So I came up with a raised boat neck collar which was knotted at the back with the ends ending as a split train. For added sparkle to the stark duchess satin gown, I embellished the collar and the train with a single row of crystal flowers and beads with silver thread embroidery. The unassuming simple A-line gown had so much drama at the back as she walked down the aisle.

It was one of the most memorable bridal marches I've ever seen, with her nephews rolling out the carpet first then the older boys biking down the aisle just before the flower girls come in. The aisle was lined with floral trees and tiny lights. The entire scene looked like a beautiful day at a park. The song she picked, "Beautiful Things" by Gungor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7VOKQ0xJY), pretty much summed up the entire ceremony. God makes beautiful things out of dust, and the love that filled up that particular afternoon overflowed with so much beauty, it touched my heart.  I'm so thankful I met her wonderful family, and that they found me online.

Yvonne during her fitting. The raised collar is knotted at the back ending up as a split train.

The pictorial before the ceremony.

A closer shot of the crystal beadwork around the collar.

Su Lin, one of her entourage members and good friend, took these photos (Thank you Su Lin!). She's wearing a cobalt blue silk chiffon gown with pleated bodice and fully beaded orange extended sleeves.

The magical tree lined aisle with crystals and tiny lights by Tony Rodriguez at Blue Leaf. http://www.theblueleaf.com.ph/

My Drawings

A few conceptual drawings from my sketchbook.

My Drawings

Unpublished drawings for a bridal magazine. Acrylic and white pencil on brown paper. 2005.

My Drawings

Some sketches inspired by Hong Kong. 2007.

My Work: Fashion Watch Summer 2012

Can you feel summer coming? It's time to show off those legs and rev up the colors. Summer is about outdoor fun and poolside parties. It's about the sun on your shoulders and the sea breeze. It's about traveling to exotic beaches and enjoying the sunset with a cool cocktail. Here's my take on summer/cruise wear. I presented this collection last year at Fashion Watch, Shangri-la Manila. After doing a somber Holiday 2011 collection, I wanted to do color for my Summer 2012 collection. Oj Hofer, a good designer-friend of mine, challenged me to use bright colors in my collection. I was not so keen on using colors in my designs, if at all they would always be muted. So I considered bubblegum, pop colors in my collection. My first inspiration was Janina Dizon-Hoschka's Tatjana clutch (which I also featured at the show). I loved the way she put together bright colors with neutrals, clashing yet classy -- easily making them statement evening bags. Then there was one of my idol illustrators, Patrick Nagel. His illustrations remain indelible images of the 80's. Bright red lips and geometric patterns, in minimal strokes, all so iconic. When I chose the fabrics for this collection, I selected four or more colors almost randomly for every fabric. Then I did color blocks in various combinations creating a visual clash in a neatly patterned dress. I kept all my lines simple and let the colors make all the noise. The end result was a clear celebration of summer. It was a riot of colors, like popsicles, margaritas and fruit slushes.

Photos by Boboy Consunji. The Tatjana clutch by Janina Dizon-Hoschka janinadizon.com

My Work: Justine

Justine is an interior designer based in Singapore. Through emails and phone calls, she briefed me on how she wanted her wedding to look like. She sent me a photo of a vintage clothing store in London, and I understood what she wanted right away. Lace, fascinators, rummaged clothes and, specifically, covered buttons. Her lace strapless gown had covered buttons from the back all the way down the train. As an added detail, I stitched up tulle and scrap lace with crystals and beads around the bodice for an ethereal effect. We also put lace edges on her veil for a more vintage look. For her entourage, she quickly said her favorite color was red. So, in line with the vintage theme, I came up with designs of several red dresses inspired by different eras in fashion. From the flapper to the shift, to 80's peplumed skirts even Dior's new look. No two dresses were alike. Her bridesmaids were supposed to look like they bought all the red dresses at a vintage store then styled them to make them look current.

This was a fun project. Justine and her sorority sisters were such a fun bunch. Every fitting session was a laugh trip. All the way to the actual wedding, when the groom lost his way to the church so everyone had to wait for almost an hour! But we all just laughed the time away and the wedding was as fun as their dresses. I always have a great time collaborating with creative brides like Justine. It's not just me designing for her, but the two of us working together on a single concept and coming up with brilliant ideas along the way. Including a hand stitched satin top hat for a dog!

Her lace gown with covered buttons and tulle bodice.

Giddy, giggly girls in vintage inspired dresses and fascinators. Take note of the dog's top hat!

My Mentor: Gil Corcuera

Everybody in advertising loves Gil Corcuera. He was Executive Art Director at Campaigns & Grey when I joined in 1993. We hit it off well on my first day. He was my boss and friend at the same time. I was fresh from college then and my enthusiasm level in the agency was very high. But Gil grounded me, patiently teaching me the ropes in graphic design and art direction. I was an eager student watching him work and learning. Gil knew I had a lot of interests, much like him, so he fine tuned me. He knew a lot of things he studied and researched himself. From architecture to fashion and costume design; also food styling, production design, music, even hair and make up. All these made him one of the best Art Directors in advertising. He would share with me his impressions on pieces of art and antiquities we would see when we'd sneak out of the office for long lunch breaks. He usually shared stories of things he'd seen and experienced when he traveled. We would also swap books to just scan through and share thoughts and ideas with each other, our own way of googling. He made learning fun, and funny. He would always tell me to study the ground work first before the actual execution. This I took to heart when I entered fashion, learning how to make a dress first before dabbling in fantastic designs.

Gil is really a gifted sculptor. After he retired, he went on and created mind-blowing kinetic, large scale sculptures which he'd always wanted to do. It would take him months to finish one piece. Venues, too, are few to accommodate the size of his pieces. That's why he rarely exhibits. This month though, is another rare chance to see his latest works. On February 21 to March 4, 2012 at the Ayala Museum Glass Wing, Gil will present his "Angst-less" pieces, both sculptures and paintings. I hope you can drop by and see a little bit of Gil's brilliant mind. The same one that has molded me to who I am today. Cheers, Gil!

Gil and yours truly in Tokyo, February 6, 2012. Photo by Boboy Consunji

My 15 minutes: Project Runway Philippines

Here's a clip of my TV guesting as a judge on Project Runway Philippines season 2. Project Runway season 3 is about to start airing . This is an exciting serires as it showcases Filipino talent and how the contestants adapt their limited resources to the different challenges. This particular episode had the contestants interpret popular films. I was tapped to judge this challenge because of my love for film and costuming, and also my background in advertising. It was interesting to witness how minds take to cinema for inspiration. Some did it literally. The others used the essence of the film and applied it in their designs, eventually winning our approval. There is that thin line defining costume design and fashion design. Both deal with garments, but costume design defines the character and the role. It's larger than life and it should amplify the character's personality (also, the technical aspect of the costume). Fashion design is reality. You design for a real person who will be using it in real life for a certain occasion. For fashion design, I usually try to get to know my client first before sketching. I use her, or him, as my inspiration. The end result should make my client feel good, therefore, look good as well.

Please watch out for Project Runway Philippines season 3, with my very good friend, Jojie Lloren.

My Work: The Tanghalang Pilipino Experience

This is what I've been busy with last month. I was tapped by Tanghalang Pilipino to do consultancy work on their costumes for their latest series of plays. I worked closely with the directors to come up with a color palette and design recommendations for each play. They're all set in current times, so there was little designing required. It was a matter of playing up each character through their costumes. One play, a comedy, is set on an MMDA overpass. For this one, the director and I decided to pump up the colors to match the tacky pinks and blues of MMDA structures. Another play features a senior couple who are retired university professors with an activist daughter. We put in subtle touches like round, wire-frame glasses for the father and ethnic jewelry for the daughter. These photos are from yet another play which features 2 ghost characters. These are Marco Viana and Martha Comia from Tanghalang Pilipino's Actors Company. They are fine actors and they did a stellar job as ghosts in this play (They also play leading roles in a comedy). Here, we dressed them up to look like Japanese ghosts in all white with just a touch of red. Their make up was designed by Paolo Rodriguez, who is also an actor who dabbles in theater make-up. The combination of special effects make-up and the texture on texture, all-white costumes worked really well onstage and they really looked dead and ghost-like, without looking like zombies, which we avoided.

My short stint with Tanghalang Pilipino was a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to design for theater. In my high school days, I would always be the costume, set and lighting designer. I even did make up in some productions then. My fascination began at a very young age when I saw my first play at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). I would dream of working backstage at the CCP, then go onstage to take a bow and receive a garland of flowers from the ushers on gala nights. I credit the CCP for opening my eyes to magical world of the performing arts and my mind to the limitless, creative possibilities of design. So finally, I did it. Thanks to Tanghalang Pilipino, and Direk Riki Benedicto for recognizing my passion in this. Please try to catch the shows. They're ongoing until mid-February. Here's their link: http://tanghalangpilipino.org.ph/main/news/eyeball-new-visions-in-philippine-theater.html

And there's more coming up this year. Including an epic musical which will feature original costume designs by me, Joey Samson and Martin Bautista. I will keep you posted on that. 

I tore up an old dress and added torn bits of textured fabric for Martha' costume. 

Marco's costume is an old white shirt with a torn t-shirt inside and white headband.
We channeled Ka Dencio in Sister Stella L. here.

The creepy make up by Paolo Rodriguez was achieved using regular eyeshadows, theater face paint, lipsticks and poster paint.

Marco and Martha hamming it up in the dressing room. They should get acting awards for best performance as ghosts!

We had an impromptu pictorial outside the CCP for a scarier effect.