The divine dwells in the details, and in Furne One Amato‘s recently staged fashion show for the culmination of Weddings at the Waterfront, Cebu’s fashionistas sat transfixed in wondrous rapture.
In a world full of human conflict, I wanted to remind people that there is still a God.
FURNE ONE AMATO
Titled “Immaculate Machinations,” the world-renowned designer presented fifty new pieces echoing celestial beings beyond human imagination, with gowns, bodysuits, and fantastical creations constructed in painstaking detail.
First and foremost, Amato is not one to follow trends. The Dubai-based Cebuano designer sets them. His designs continuously push the boundaries of luxury and opulence, blurring the lines between the utilitarianism of clothing and the art of fashion.
After all, here is one of the Philippines’ first true masters of couture, a word often thrown about in fashion parlance, remains an elusive pursuit. And once more, Amato has broken the mold with his new collection.
For this collection, Furne harkens back to the source of all inspiration. “In a world full of human conflict, I wanted to remind people that there is still a God,” he enthused. And in true Amato fashion, he set that reminder in motion on not so much a runway but a graveyard, with the stage set in the Waterfront’s Pacific Grand Ballroom decorated with larger-than-life plaster statues of angels, crowns of thorns and hands reaching up in supplication to the heavens.
Show director Junjet Primor bathed the stage in stark monochromatic light. Instead of music, the hall was filled with a low rumble of thunder and rainfall, as though the spectators were all standing in the presence of a Higher Being.
And in this moment of dire need, heavenly intervention (or retribution) in the form of angels. Angelic beings strolled down the runway decked in various ensembles laden with pearls, crystals, and feathers, all sown into sheer fabric expertly draped on the models’ forms.
Amato was in fighting form that evening. His distinct rococo style, the one that’s been worn by everyone from pop royalty to actual royalty, was in full, unbridled display.
Except this time, the color palette for all fifty looks save one was limited to white. Expertly cut bodices in cream and bodysuits in ivory predominantly figured in the collection, while dainty tea-length dresses betrayed the sheer baroque sensuality of feathered appliques.
Amato is a prophet of this age. With fashion trends cycling through in mind-numbing speed and fast fashion taking over the closets of everyone, he stands unyielding. With clarity of vision and mastery of his craft, he lets loose an army of seraphim to remind us mere mortals that a higher being is still calling the shots, and they wouldn’t be wearing anything less than couture.
