By Danielle Gabriel
TRADITIONAL fabric use does not always mean outdated fashion. Indigenous textile designers proved this during the International Festival of Extraordinary Textiles (FITE) public fashion show at SM Aura Premiere in Taguig City.
The event had hand-woven pieces using natural fibers and recycled fabrics meeting modern silhouettes and contemporary designs.
Designers from different parts of the globe flew to Manila to showcase their work in a bid to reinvent organic textiles into more wearable pieces and to promote their respective cultures through clothing.
Mexico’s Carmen Rion brought an explosion of color evident of her Latin-American roots. At first glance, the vibrant mix of prints and patterns used is reminiscent of the 1970s psychedelic age, with everyone aiming for the hobo chic look.
But upon closer inspection, modern takes on Mexican fashion were present from the poncho-inspired maxi dresses to sexy cutout and backless numbers, Rion’s designs take traditional weaving, embroidery and beading out of obscurity.
Aiming for both style and substance in her works, Rion has been working with indigenous artisans from Chiapas for the last 10 years to promote Mexican culture and heritage.
“It is very important that the fashion industry turns around a little and recognize the work that artisans in indigenous communities do. This helps recover and rescue the techniques and indigenous work that we have all over the world,” Rion said.
In contrast with Rion’s colorful collection, toned-down hues and architectural shapes are what Hong Kong-based designer Dr. Kinor Jiang, together with his colleagues and student at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU), brought to the runway.
Nothing says modern like shimmer and metallic textures. Jiang’s collaboration with Diane Sparks from the United States and Shu Sun from Hong Kong looks something from a Star Wars scene. The designers crafted couture long gowns and oversized blouses using polyester and acetate.
Leaning on the minimalist side, the collection by Guoxiang Yuan, also from the HKPU, showed knee-length dresses and overcoats in earthly tones of beige, muted white, moss green and auburn brown. Yuan’s work focused on texture qualities of garments by using surface-treatment technology, which manipulates the appearance of the fabric through 3D printing or laser techniques.
For men’s wear, Jiang collaborated with fashion and textile design student Tsang Fan Yu from HKPU, making the most of metalized textiles technique rendering the polyester fabric used into a neoprene-jersey textile hybrid.
Jiang, whose research deals with innovation in laser treatment in textile, said he hopes the technique would gain more recognition in the textile industry for its environment-friendly feature. Laser technology can replicate designs and lace patterns minus the use of chemicals and bleaching through cutting and etching.
Metallic textile designer Tsang explained that he wanted a fusion of traditional fabrics with contemporary designs and techniques. Tsang’s collection, a reinvention of men’s kimono, is a combination of silk fabric with metallic details.
“Designing for the international level means having a global vision. My inspiration for the collection is Japanese style. I thought the use of traditional fabric with modern details is a good combination,” Tsang said. With its abundance of natural fibers, the Philippines is not to be left out in the extraordinary textiles scene.
Patis Tesoro, a pioneer of indigenous Filipino materials use, such as abaca, Mindanao silk and piña has already showcased her work in previous FITE editions.
Dubbed as the Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion, Tesoro proves embroidered garments are not just granny statements nowadays and Filipiniana is back to couture from costume.
Tesoro’s work includes hand-woven piña fabric with intricate beading and abstract embroidery that is a mix of Chinese aesthetics and Filipino silhouettes made modern. A new form of baro’t saya in sheer that leaves little to the imagination hit the runway. Barong and palazzo pants in ethnic prints for men were also showcased.
Aiming to put the textile industry in the country back on its feet, Tesoro said there has to be a change in mind-set that traditional fabrics are not out of fashion.
“We see more and more artists trying to come up with new designs for the ternos. Slowly, the artistic expression for traditional Philippine wear is coming back. The reluctance from the people and the government just needs to be avoided,” Tesoro said.
FITE, which started in 2012 at the city of Clermont-Ferrand in France, aims to create a platform for designers and artisans all over the world to discuss about traditional textile’s role in preserving cultures, as well as inspiring contemporary ideas.