After drawing inspiration from such National Artists as Nick Joaquin, BenCab, Ramon Valera and Lucio San Pedro, Freeway presents its 14th National Artist Collector’s Series featuring clothes that draw inspiration from and pay homage to painter Jose Joya.
![Sheree Gotuaco, head of Elite Garments, the company behind Freeway, thanks artist and art critic Cid Reyes, lawyer Josie Joya Baldovino and emcee Lexi Schulze. Reyes and Baldovino graced a fashion show at Glorietta featuring clothes from Freeway's 14th National Artist Collector's Series inspired by the works of Jose Joya.](http://peopleasia.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IMG_8540-e1534496374464.jpg)
By Alex Y. Vergara
Now on its 14th collection, Freeway’s National Artist Collector’s Series has become not only a marketing tool for the local ready-to-wear brand, but also a tradition of sorts that continues to instill national pride and art education among Filipinos through fashion.
After drawing inspiration in the past from the likes of visual artists such as Vicente Manansala, Juan Luna and BenCab, writers such as Nick Joaquin, Jose Garcia-Villa and F. Sionil Jose, fashion designers like Ramon Valera, and musicians such as Levi Celerio and Lucio San Pedro, to name a few, Sheree Gotuaco and her in-house design team have channeled images and inspirations from the works of the late abstract painter and National Artist for Visual Arts Jose Joya.
In a recent fashion show at the Glorietta, Freeway presented mostly loose and drape-y dresses and separates made of various cotton blends as well as chiffon, georgette and soft twill, and splashed with enlarged images culled from Joya’s more iconic paintings. The design team didn’t limit its canvas to neutral shades, as there were a number of looks in bright colors such as red and yellow.
The fashion show also doubled as a quick informal session of who Joya was, both as a person and as an artist. Sheree, CEO and creative director of Elite Garments, invited painter and art critic Cid Reyes and lawyer Josie Joya-Baldovino, Joya’s sister as well as wife of the late photographer Dick Baldovino, to talk about Joya after the show.
Joya, who was also the dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts, died at 63. He was quite serious with his work, according to Cid and Josie, but at the same time very generous with his time and resources. People who didn’t know him find the master quiet and unassuming, but his friends and loved ones also attest to his thoughtfulness and wicked sense of humor.
But as far as fashion goes, what makes FreewayXJoseJoya different from the brand’s previous collector’s series?
“This is the first time we have featured an abstract artist,” says Sheree, who launched the first collector’s series in 2003. “Apart from that, what makes this special is that Jose Joya is the pioneering father of this mixed-media abstract form at a time when most artists expressed themselves with representative art such as portraits, landscapes and figures.”
If you can’t afford his art, which now fetches record amounts in the art market, you can certainly find it more affordable to buy Freeway’s figure-flattering dresses and ensembles, including unisex cotton tees, inspired by Joya’s art.
“Since Jose Joya used mixed media in his artworks, the resulting fashion collection we did looks very textured,” Sheree adds. “His choice of colors was very bright. They highlight the textures and are very apt for the coming holiday season.”
As for cuts and silhouettes, it marks the first time Freeway is featuring different styles of long-line vests, which, Sheree attests, are “very slimming and versatile for any figure.”
“Almost all silhouettes have flattering basic cuts with small details on sleeves, collars or seams so that we can highlight the artwork itself,” she continues. “Ever since, we’ve always had a wide size range for our National Artist Collection, from XS to 5XL, in order to cater to different ages, sizes and body types.”
The fashion show presented a total of 30 looks, but in actuality, it was made up of around 40 pieces. Twelve styles are already available in Freeway’s stores. New styles from the series will be delivered weekly until the holiday season.
(The #FreewayXJoseJoya collection is available at all Freeway and The Row branches nationwide and online through www.freeway.ph or through the brand’s online partner Zalora. You can learn more about Jose Joya and Freeway by visiting www.freeway.ph or visit the brand’s Facebook page facebook.com/FreewayPhilippines. Freeway is also on Instagram @freewayph.)