Brian Leyva's Butterfly Sleeves METROWEAR 2010
A sense of comparison prevailed at both Phil. Fashion Week (PFW) and Metrowear; a disappointing scenario when both parties are dedicatedly striving to bring together the best designers to laud and promote the Philippine fashion scene. Showcasing twice, Spring/Summer-Holiday every year, (PFW),and once yearly (Metrowear).. maybe some mistakenly think they are presenting identical silhouettes every season and simply smearing them with a fall colour palette will garner them commercial and critical success.
While the Philippine Fashion Week is steering in the right direction to make it to an enviable position on the global fashion calendar, Metrowear's focus remains domestic, improving every year with glitches addressed and ironed out, focusing on what’s positive, who the worthy newsmakers are, where the maximum creative prowess can be seen...still talents prevailed and the ego-circus remained on the sidelights.
Angelo Estera PFW 2010
But this is not an investigative probe... just a synopsis of what has unfurled. What do multiple fashion weeks signify in our country? To understand, analyse and predict the stakes, we need to study the industry facts and views from the perspectives of optimism and scepticism.
Focus: ‘International’ The Philippine Fashion Week, the trend is “in sync with international practices where there are several simultaneous events during a week”. New York, Milan, Paris and London — making the whole activity much more streamlined.Metrowear still remained local.
Is there a possibility of creating one spirit ,one fashion showcase?...on a larger picture scale? This brings concerns about the portrayal of the disharmony, no unity amongst our fraternity. Is “professionalism "ready to go ahead with integrity and consistency...?
Focus: ‘Options’ Multiple fashion showcase, signifies the presence of a larger number of participants, and therefore, more variety for the consumers, publicists and buyers to choose from, each providing their own aesthetics and images. Thiese events are well-run by well-reputed organisations,with more or less wide magnitude, proper marketing, infrastructure and funding.
Focus: ‘Platform’ There would now be more platforms, giving younger designers a chance to showcase their dreams and encouraging more talents. Fashion schools like FIP and SOFA would greatly benifit in these events. More people get opportunity.”
More categories give more designers with different sensibilities and the chances to show their kind of fashion and style.Exposure, markets, extra opportunity and experimentations are the positive outcomes in these annual events. On one hand there are young, talented designers who are getting the scope to showcase and keep senior designers on their toes. But the flipside is that a lot of undeserving candidates fill the spaces…more through money and celebrity contacts, than real talent.
Focus: ‘Competition’ With more names vying for the limelight, there is pressure to innovate, raise quality standards and also create competitive price points. The industry is at its razor-sharp, cut-throat zenith, with someone always looming— to replace a weak candidate.
‘Healthy competition’ is not only between contemporaries, or similar genres, but it extends beyond hierarchies. The newer set competes with each other to establish a foothold and carve a niche. Their noted peers are also constantly driven to raising the bar, as fresh entrants are increasingly sharp, media savvy and extremely tuned in to the market. The challenge is to consistently maintain a cutting-edge outlook, and deliver on time, every time. The process ensures a no-slack overall attitude, because nobody can afford to be lazy. It’s about the survival of the fittest....the rest will fall into place anyway.
Popoy Barba PFW 2010
The events are no more aspirational, as the entry process has been made easier to fill the slots. ‘Come one, come all’ — a torrent of names receives a few minutes of fame, and subsequently (and swiftly) fades into oblivion. Despite the overall improvement in aesthetics and finish, and a recent noticeable affinity to experimentation, individuality is still predominantly lacking.Some do not even regard fashion weeks as business anymore; it is only seasonal publicity...
