BB. PILIPINAS-Intercontinental Katarina
Rodriguez
wearing Dio Deus illusion gown.
They really were couture pyrotechnics—kaleidoscopic shades, whorls, whizzers— during the curtain call.
I was sitting across Ernz Huiso while all these were happening, and the expression on his face was rapt, like a little boy’s.
He does not fake enjoying life mingling and amplifying what he does best, especially this one: his first fashion show in his hometown after years of studying at Slim’s in Manila, an institution founded by the truest queen of Philippine fashion, Salvacion Lim-Higgins.
“It was inspired by Kagay-anon’s dream of Paris sunset,” he told me later of his collection at the opening salvo of Fashion Festival Northern Mindanao at the new SM Premiere Downtown in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) last Aug. 19, with homegrown designers Dandy Domingo, Nicko Palad, Jacqueline Plaza and Dio Deus.
NICKO PALAD nude dresses
“My edge would be my aesthetic and how I set standards for myself and my designs. People notice that I am offering something different. Because I was based in Manila for a while, I was able to see the local fashion industry from the outside.”
“CDO Fashion is slowly evolving. Its slow progress is caused by pageant-based exposures. People are attracted to gowns with sparkling beads and crystals than impeccably tailored luxe wear made of expensive fabric. There is a need to introduce different styles and aesthetics to educate the
audience,” he observes.
True enough, his pieces displayed superior command in tailoring (exhibit A: a plaid jumpsuit cut with a décolletage illusion, sewed for men) and in composing symmetry (exhibit B: a cocktail dress of Mindanao silk with soft, oversized ruffles on the sleeves, duly proportioned with the asymmetrical hem with a sharp, upward bias tape).
The Huiso seduction is the skin. Therefore, the stations of the cut-outs in the flat pattern are crucial; plotting each side demands a precision for each selvedge it creates thereafter, especially he has followed the color palette of the sunset. Styling it is another thing (a sheered tulle tethered
to the waist of a jumpsuit).
“I think I have the responsibility to make a change and help the local landscape. I wanted to prove that being based in one’s hometown (away from Manila, the fashion capital) is not a hindrance for me to make a mark. I envision a Kagay-anon brand by a local designer and made locally for an international market. For me, That’s the essence of CDO pride,” he continued.
PLAID
separates with tulle tail by Ernz Huiso
Meanwhile, Domingo’s (an alumnus of Fashion Institute of the Philippines in CDO) point of view was frills-free. He reconstructed the Barong Tagalog by presenting two-piece Mandarin blouse made of Mindanao silk, paired with a yoke box pleated pair of shorts. Conscious with women’s body
issues and not to send out the ephemeral, the designer said everything he has done is wearable, slightly incorporated with trendy ruffles on the sleeves
and hemlines. Rubberized fabrics were common at the base of the web tulle.
And in his world, black is beautiful, too. “I was inspired by individuals who were in a tragic fall but still standing strong—if it were for life’s harsh reality, if it were for love or any struggles one has faces. Black represents the darkest of moments in our lives,” he said.
But in contrast, his hope for his chosen commerce has the common incandescence in a young
designer’s heart of hearts.
And like the rest of the them, this has marked an epoch in his own creative discovery.
He ends: “CDO is a progressive city, a fast-paced environment, so as the fashion trends. But fashion industry in CDO is not that noticeable, yet; it’s mere pageantry or entertainment. We want to change that because fashion is everyday life. It’s a necessity.”