Steph Verano, Karl Nadales and Peach Garde are three new names to watch out for in local fashion. As the latest batch of Bench Design Awards winners, they now join an elite group of past awardees like Jaggy Glarino and Bon Hansen. The three recently bested nine other finalists to each earn a slot at Tokyo Fashion Week.
By ALEX Y. VERGARA
Bench has forever changed the fates and fortunes of three young designers with last Sunday’s Bench Design Awards held at The Playground. Before the evening was over, Steph Verano, Peach Garde and Karl Nadales bested nine other finalists to each take home a coveted prize, plus a chance to showcase to the world their respective collections at the 2026 Tokyo Spring-Summer Fashion Week later this year.
The brainchild of Ben Chan, founder and chairman of Suyen Corp., Bench Design Awards started in 2017 with the main objective of discovering and giving emerging talents in fashion design a platform to compete and impress the world with what they’ve got. Each of this year’s three winners will also be receiving a P200,000 grant, plane fare and hotel accommodations to Tokyo. But the bigger, more intangible prize is the prestige and media mileage the award brings, which is heaven-sent to any struggling designer trying to make a name for him/herself amidst a crowded field.
Each of the 12 finalists produced an eight-piece collection based on a chosen theme that invariably showcased their respective styles, techniques and expertise using specific materials. Chan led this year’s board of judges composed of Filipinos Dennis Lustico, Joey Samson, Michael Saliente, and Japanese Kaoru Imajo and Mihara Yasuhiro.
Verano, a sociology and anthropology graduate from Ateneo, ventured into fashion after college. She originally wanted to take up painting, but had to abide by her parent’s wishes to take up something “more practical.” She finally found a way to express her love for the arts through fashion by enrolling at SOFA and Slim’s after her Ateneo days.
Drawing inspiration from old photographs of fisherfolk living in temperate countries, Verano produced a collection consisting of padded and quilted ensembles, oversized tops and layered as well as knitted looks the echo what fishermen of yore and their kin wore, albeit executed and styled in a fashion-forward manner.
“As I was looking at old photographs of fishermen and their wives in Europe, I was drawn to the shapes of the clothes, the layers and how each article of clothing would cover them or wrap around their bodies,” said Verano.
She couldn’t say for sure if the techniques that were evident in the looks she produced are her signature as a designer. Since she’s still in the “experimental stage,” Verano is having the time of her life exploring, learning and pushing established norms in fashion design and construction to the limits.
“I showed present and ongoing techniques I’m interested in like quilting and knitting,” she explained. “I also did some experimenting with regards to patternmaking to be able to come up with different shapes. At this stage in my career, I honestly can’t say that I’m already an expert or skilled at something. I’m still learning.”
For Garde, a native of Capiz, who’s now based in Iloilo, lighting has struck twice, as the former nursing student also won the grand prize earlier this year in Bench’s Ternocon.
Unlike most young designers today, Garde knew next to nothing about fashion while growing up. As such, he wasn’t influenced by any style or fashion designer during his younger years.
Instead, Garde dreamt of becoming a nurse, but had to quit school for financial reasons. He resumed his studies sometime later while already working at SM Iloilo. His exposure at SM led Garde to switch gears, choosing instead to take up Fashion Design and Merchandising at Iloilo Science and Technology University.
Soon after finishing school, he left the retail world determined to make a name for himself in fashion. He further armed himself with the basics by enrolling at a bespoke tailoring class as Slim’s. His love for tailoring and ease in crafting ready-to-wear separates in shades of blue and neutrals were evident in his award-winning collection for Bench, which Garde dubbed as “Seascape.”
No doubt, the eight years Garde spent at SM have guided him to produce clothes that aren’t only wearable, but also teeming with that so-called hanger appeal. Contrary to common notion, Japan Fashion Week is more partial to wearable, but fashion-forward clothes than avant-garde designs that appeal to a limited segment of the market.
“My collection tells the story of a quick beach escapade among a group of young friends,” Garde explained. “My style is pure, minimal and clean. I try as much as possible to design wearable clothes. I also love tailoring.”
Finally, Nadales, a product of the Jojie Lloren-run F.A.B. Creatives, drew inspiration from a make-believe foundation he calls “A17.” The idea came about from his experience with mentors and fellow students, “whether positive or negative,” he said, who have influenced him as a person and as a designer.
Apart from Lloren, Nadales considers Samson, himself a seasoned tailor known for his clean, inventive construction of clothes, as one of his mentors. The two seasoned designers’ aesthetics were somehow evident in Nadales’ collection composed of intricately tailored yet off-kilter dresses and separates. One look consisted of strips of fabrics that reminded us of a priest’s vestments. More than anything else, it was a testament to the designer’s ability to fashion complicated pieces that require painstaking precision and impeccable construction.
With their win, Verano, Garde and Nadales now join an elite group of previous Bench Design Award winners who are now blazing trails in local fashion. They include Jaggy Glarino, Bon Hansen, Christian Dalogaog, Renz Reyes and Antonina Amoncio.
