Now on its third edition, Bench’s TernoCon not only provides budding designers with a venue to showcase their skills and talents. It also honors and promotes the country’s national dress by making it more accessible and wearable to today’s generation of Filipino women.
Text and photos Alex Y. Vergara
Yssa Inumerable of Parañaque edged out her rivals to win the Pacita Longos award, the grand prize in yesterday evening’s finals of TernoCon held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez.
Now on its third edition, TernoCon organizers, led by Ben Chan, founder and CEO of Suyen Corporation, challenged young designers from all over the country to come up with modern yet wearable takes on the balintawak. Each contestant presented two looks on finals night.
Gabbie Sarenas of Rizal Province had to settle for second, winning the Pura Escurdia award, while Gladys Rose Pantua of Zamboanga came in third, going home with the Ramon Valera award. The all-female winners bested nine other contestants, including a number of finalists in previous editions of Ternocon.
Started in 2018 by Bench, in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), TernoCon is envisioned not just as a competition and springboard for newbie designers to make a name for themselves. The annual contest, which was shelved for two years at the height of the pandemic, also seeks to honor the terno, one of the country’s most iconic and versatile national dresses, and promote its use and appreciation, especially among today’s young women.
Former Miss Universe Margie Moran-Floirendo, CCP president, assisted Chan in handing out medals of recognition and cash prizes to this year’s winners. This year’s board of judges are Chan, Ormoc Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, and designers Philip Rodriguez, Ivarluski Aseron and Lesley Mobo.
Whittled down from hundreds of hopefuls from all over the country, the 12 finalists, depending on their style and aesthetics, further underwent mentoring from several of the country’s established designers such as Inno Sotto, this year’s chief mentor, Dennis Lustico, Joey Samson and retired couturier Chito Vijandre and partner Ricky Toledo.
Like a proud father, Dennis, mentor of Yssa, this year’s grand prize winner, is all praises for the budding talent, including her attitude and work ethic.
“Her vision for the balintawak was solid from the very start,” Dennis shared with PeopleAsia. “She also has a lot of admirable qualities as a creative person. I’ve noticed that she’s calm and gentle, but firm when it comes to her work. She’s already teaching fashion, but at the same time she has remained humble and open to learn more from others about techniques and proportions. She’s always receptive to suggestions as well. I’m so proud of her!”
This year’s mentors, with the exception of Inno, also regaled the event’s well-heeled guests, including celebrities, socialites, fashion-watchers and captains of industry, with their respective mini collections.
Tapping on their respective strengths and aesthetic preferences, each designer presented various possibilities, as they overhauled the balintawak and made it more modern and appealing to today’s generation of Filipinos.
“For this collection, I experimented by combining the same types of fabrics,” Dennis, an avid runner, shared. “So there were a lot of flimsy on flimsy, textured or textured and pattern on pattern materials. I tried to evoke the feeling whenever I’m outdoors, running, hiking and wandering into the wilderness where I feel most exhilarated yet calm as I am embraced by nature. The feeling extends to all the colors and hues I see in the forest.”
Each segment earned thunderous applause from the audience, but it was Chito and Ricky who stole the show with their opening act. Inspired by jukebox hits of yesteryears, a trio of models, complete with a real jukebox and microphone as props, lip-synched Eva Eugenio’s Tukso as a prelude to the duo’s main collection.
Hannah Adriaz, grand prize winner of TernoCon’s last edition before the entire world went on lockdown, also had her moment as she presented modern takes on the terno, including multiple deconstructed pieces consisting of tops and skirts in teal, mustard and somber neutral shades.
Apart from the skirt and blouse, the original Colonial-era balintawak, a precursor to the modern-day terno, consisted of such elements as the tapis, panuelo and alampay. The multiple-piece ensemble gradually evolved into the one-piece terno we know today sometime before the war. Despite the evolution of the balintawak into the terno, one element remains—those iconic butterfly sleeves.
Completing this year’s list of TernoCon finalist are Geom Hernandez from Batangas, Dee Javier from Manila, Amor Albano from Ilocos Norte, Glyn Alley Magtibay from Oriental Mindoro, Bon Hansen Reyes from Rizal, Bree Esplanada from Cebu, Karl Nadales from Iloilo, Al Rey Rosano from Negros Oriental and Marc Carcillar from Iloilo.
