Photos by Gerard Pareja
I want a woman to dress like a woman,” says Eve Navales, who is sitting at the front row of her first fashion show in 2018.
The recessionary shifts of transformation may have interrupted the pragmatism for a while.
But as she breaks through the bedrock of famous designers, she builds a name for herself by reorganizing a set of belief systems.
Slowly but surely, it begins with the most obvious, her outfit of the night — two straps criss-crossed at the neckline of the vermilion cropped top paired with soft ruffles at the edge of the asymmetrical hemline of the skirt.
She must be a little too obsessive with necklines. With hardly two years since she moved from Leyte to Cebu to commence an eponymous line, she has already perfected the principles of perfect fit.
How palpable, you inquire?
The sleeves from the sweetheart neckline that extend to the back have never furrowed when Navales sends the frock down to the runway at the“Meant to Be” bridal show at the South Town Centre in Bulacao, Talisay City last Feb.17.
A quartet of pure white Japanese islet stretched lace is developed in tea-length numbers and high-slit skirts—cinched by three-fourth inch metal belts—with busts that resemble like the one she is wearing as entourage samples. Box pleats are constructed with solid lines around the circumference of the skirt.
Along with otherfashion designers—Edwin Alba, Jongz Loquinario, Valerie Alvez, Angela Dado, Philipp Tampus, Lord Maturan, Lemuel Rosos, Bongbong Flores, Mel Maria—she modernizes an old idea.
The floral appliqué treatments crawl from the left hip to the bust, leaving the other side extremely plain to establish contrast of the desired look.
“A perfect wedding gown is the one which reveals the personality and character of the bride. It defines the wholeness of her being as a woman,” continues Navales, an alumna at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines in Cebu City.
“I want everyone who will see her wearing it shall say: ‘That’s what she is’—not any other person. Or in another way,
it should unveil the mystery of brides personality that is hidden behind”
On the other hand, Alba is a master ofintricacy.
He presents a full floral-trimmed skirt, textured by the scallops of the patterns.
His version of the halter has slim straps that are attached to the diagonal pleats on the bust.
“My gowns have simplified silhouettes, making them wearable,” describes Alba, who is also a faculty member at Fashion Institute of Design and Arts (Fida). Fellow Fida mentors Tampus and Alvez have also showcased their strength in weddings.
Tampus has attached tiny embroidered flowers on the illusion gown while Alvez is in the mood for an oversized ribbon at the back of the A-line dress.
Loquinario’s mermaid gown draws the eyes that the baroque patterns have paved way for the negative spaces in between, tricking us into thinking: skin or skin-toned lining?
The breakthrough of people in fashion signifies the constant revolution of designs —and how their consumers restructure the cult.
It’s never about the number on the scale—it’s about how the scales balance.
