For the first time in years, no young hard bodies–men or women–paraded in their underwear at the recent BFW Holiday 2019. Not that it mattered. Instead, the three-day event would be remembered for its many firsts—from Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez and Patty Ang’s respective debut collections for Kashieca as well as Mihara Yasuhiro and Willy Chavarria’s formal introduction to Pinoy fashionistas, to the latest batch of winners, young designers all, of the annual Bench Design Awards.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Just when you thought you’ve seen it all from Bench, the country’s foremost homegrown global brand and its sister labels such as Kashieca and Human have once again surprised fashionistas, in a pleasant way, of course, as it staged its most recent edition of Bench Fashion Week (BFW) at the Bench Tower’s Playground in BGC.
To mark the start of the “ber” months, BFW Holiday 2019 presented its three-day series of shows focused on holiday and pre-holiday pieces. It culminated on the third day with the announcement of the three winners of the Bench Design Awards. Judges led by Ben Chan, Suyen Corporation’s head honcho, picked Jace Quiambao, Bon Reyes and Antonina Amoncio as the top three winners out of nine newbie hopefuls.
The three obviously drew the judges’ nod, especially perhaps the foreigners, for their quirky and sometimes off-kilter designs that often border on the whimsical—jackets and bags studded with faux butterflies, pajamas made of quilted materials in the shape of teddy bears and clutch bags that resembled pillows.
There were no first, second and third prizes, as all three were adjudged as joint winners. But if there ever were a first runner up, our vote would to Michael Bawar for his updated take on the baro’t saya and Balintawak using various materials, including chambray, organza and denim.
Perhaps the foreign judges weren’t able to fully understand Michael’s quirky Pinoy aesthetics (even his choice of music, Celeste Legaspi’s classic “Mamang Sorbetero” brought smiles to the audience, as it lightened up the mood from all the theatrics and/or full-on pa-attitude mode that dominated preceding collections, including their designers’ choice of music), which cost him a place in the winners’ circle. If he should join again next year, Michael should also pay attention on such details as finishing and proportions.
That was Bon’s edge over his rivals. The diminutive designer’s seemingly simple designs for men capitalized on his clean, flawless workmanship and fresh takes on cutting and fabric manipulation.
Apart from having received additional free mentoring and training from local designers and stylists like Ivar Aseron, Joey Samson and Noel Manapat, the three winners will also receive valuable advice from such global designers as Japanese Mihara Yasuhiro and Mexican-American Willy Chavarria. But the best part of winning the annual design tilt is the trio’s chance to be able to show their respective collections at Tokyo Fashion Week this coming October.
Apart from wearing judges’ hats on BFW’s third day, Yasuhiro and Chavarria had their respective star turns a day earlier when they both shared the runway, one after the other, to showcase their respective collections. While Yasuhiro relied heavily on layering and juxtaposition of elements a la Harajuku chic, from plain and printed fabrics to light tops and cool-weather jackets, Chavarria showed mostly structured, tailored and neutral cotton and denim separates. No two styles featured on the same day could have been poles apart.
For the first time in a long while, no young hard bodies—men or women—paraded in their skimpy underwear at this BFW edition. Not that it mattered. Instead, BFW Holiday 2019 would be remembered as a time of firsts, whether from a celebrity-turned politician-turned fashion designer Lucy Torres Gomez and her debut collection of pretty, ’60s-inspired dresses and separates for Kashieca, and young designer Patty Ang and her ’70s take on ensembles made mostly of light corduroy and denims also from Kashieca. Both collections are wearable but chic, and offer women with less-than-ideal figures ideal options.
