Will I be missed when I step back?
At 5:20 in the afternoon, a Tuesday, in the first week of September, I slip through the door of the fitting room at the atelier of Philipp Tampus in Mabolo. The fashion designer is scrutinizing each one of them, assigning what color matches whom, which largely depends on bone structure, height, and skin tone.
Excuse, excuse—a voice breaks behind me from the assistant emerging from another room occupied with textured skirts and painstaking fabric decorations, the DNA of the company. I lean back to avoid the tail end of the dress inside a transparent plastic suit bag.
“Can I take the lightest pink cocktail dress?” I catch everyone’s attention in my oddly baritone voice, a mismatch to all the feminine and romantic dress hanging before me.
“Oh, sure—you take the smallest size!” Philipp hugs me. He hugs tight all the time. Our friendship dates back after he exited Project Runway Philippines fresh from his
arrival from Dubai 10 years ago, bringing in patterns of Arab vectors on the waistline with the finest pleat drapes.
In the history of our friendship, I have seen him give birth to incredible fabric manipulation and beadwork—tribal techno on jackets and appliques, voluminous wedding gowns, lace over lace over lace. He has delivered fine gold embroidery of Baroque art on formal wears for Philippine Fashion Week. The decadence of his mastery in
materials is evident in how he develops whenever he sends out a new series.
On Saturday, Sept. 29, Philipp will push things a little bit further for us in a solo show “Pink Exodus” at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, a charity ball for the benefit of I Can Serve Foundation. More than 50 pieces will be showcased, the curation of the flow is already a story in itself. Pastel colors will open the evening. As it progresses in a bevy of 10, the shades would become bolder and darker.
“Each segment shows how I developed my aesthetics over the years … I love combining laces to come up with another lace. It’s very classic and feminine,” he explains.
“Being a designer is not just making and designing clothes. We play a role in every client’s life by making them happy and look good; we contribute to the community with this cause, sharing our ideas and inspiring people. It’s not just making a name or acquiring fame.”