DP stuff

When I was starting to design clothes I would use found materials and rework old clothes for my collections. I have no money then to produce a proper collection that uses new fabric so i would ask my friends for their old clothes and rework it to my style. My very first collection was done with the help of my friends. Half of the collection was made of reworked old clothes and half was made of paper & garbage bag. I just laugh when I remember how exciting it was for me and my friends. The title of the collection was 'Possibly, Maybe', which encourages the audience to look beyond the materials used but instead imagine the shapes if done in proper fabric. I would stage many more shows and it would include a lot of stuff from mothball smelling wardrobes of friends who were generous enough to dump their stuff to me. Once I even had a collection that used old military uniforms, damaged crochet tablecloths and bed sheets printed with football motifs.

I guess I never really abandoned my love for reworking existing garments. I reworked vintage barongs for my first international fashion show for the Angkor Silk Forum here in Cambodia. That show got me acquinted with Cambodia and I still couldn't believe I'm here now. I also presented that reworked barong concept for my first Philippine Fashion Week showing. Even for my spring/summer 2009 collection I've got some reworked denim and cotton tops just to make it more interesting.

Above you can see a tie-dyed halter top that was once a skirt.

I've also done some quirky accessories lately. Here's two of my fave: a cork pendant,

and some handmade tassel ones.