As a veteran fashion designer drew inspiration from a NetFlix character for his latest couture collection, a leading fashion photographer captured iconic images of Philippine beaches and coconut trees, which ended up on boardshorts and swimsuits, using his trusty iPhone.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Bench Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2019 ended with a bang, thanks to several attractions, including a pair hottie Olympians wearing ensembles from Bench Active and Bench Swim, respectively, vying for people’s attention.
Veteran fashion designer JC Buendia opened the show with a 15-piece collection inspired by Claire, the heroine in the NetFlix hit series Outlander. As such, the designer derived inspiration from 18th century fashion as well as from the lead character’s strong but feminine disposition. She may be “modern” in her convictions, said JC, but Claire is old-fashioned in her values.
To flesh out his vision, the designer made use of his favorite fabrics such as gazar, organdie and tulle. In his desire to marry couture with sportswear, certain pieces were stitched with the number ’87, a nod to the year Bench was born as well as JC’s debut as a professional designer.
“Several fashion bloggers asked me if the collection was inspired by Audrey Hepburn. It wasn’t. But I guess Audrey is already part of my DNA. Images of her, from watching all those Hepburn films in my youth, are probably stored in my memory bank,” said JC.
As expected, the collection, which consisted of tailored dresses and separates, including tops, pants and a faux pearl-encrusted shrug, were impeccably constructed. The black-and-white color scheme gained just the right visual punch, thanks to two looks primarily in white and canary yellow.
“Yellow is a happy color I miss seeing,” he said. “It’s the color of the sun, the color of a bright day, the color of summer, the color of hope.”
In his heart, the designer admits that going for yellow is a political statement, “but not to sling mud, but to sling hope.”
Speaking of summer, temperatures soared at The Playground, as Olympians Arthur Nory and Connor Dwyner walked (and later did away with their tops) for Bench Active and Bench Swim, respectively.
Arthur, stripped to his waist, even did a few somersaults and backflips. Connor was equally buoyed, as he had no less than his Number One fan, girlfriend and Victoria’s Secret model Kelsey Merritt, cheering him on in the audience.
As the featured finales for their respective segments, both Olympians were preceded by an army of hardbodies and shapely figures belonging to a diverse mix of personalities—from Filipino and Brazilian models, movie stars, celebrities and former beauty queens.
Adding depth to this season’s swimwear line from Bench Swim were images taken by leading fashion photographers Mark Nicdao and Jake Versoza, which ended up being enlarged and splashed on bathing suits, tank tops and boardshorts.
“They asked me for images of places that I go to in the Philippines to relax, unwind and lose myself,” said Mark. “They included such places as Boracay, Bantayan Island and Palawan. These are images I wish I had shot with my camera. Since I don’t normally bring a camera with me to the beach on vacation, I shot the images with my iPhone instead.”
The effect, Mark added, became like an “extension of my memories and the fact that these images were of the moment,” which eventually ended up on various articles of clothing. The photographer ended up giving Bench’s designers “a thousand images” for them to choose from and reproduce.
“I believe images taken by a phone camera would have a different effect once they’re printed on short and bathing suits,” he said. “When it fades, it’s going to look parang ancient. I’m sure 10 to 15 years from now, the quality of cameras would be very different. These shots would look analog.”
