My Version of Basketball Shorts

A little bit twisted

Guimaras

I went to Guimaras with my friends Bo and Tina. It was super fun and I really enjoyed the island hopping. My fave was when we had lunch in one of the secluded beaches. I also love when we went inside the cave. It's truly a must to visit Guimaras if you like nature, the beach, seafoods and mangoes (the sweetest in the world!). I promise to come back again!

Three New Pieces

What do you think?

Me in Manila

I was in Manila for only a few days and I didn't stay long. After presenting my fall/winter 2011 collection for Philippine Fashion Week, I flew to Iloilo immediately. In Manila, though it was a short stay, it was relatively stress free and not so frenetic as my previous experience. I met up with my friend Mike and we had a whole day of bonding. He is known as Toxicdiscoboy in the blogging world and 1/2 of the clothing label, Paradigm Shift. We decided to eat at Cibo, one of my fave Italian restaurant.


I had a simple pasta and some chips with Diet Coke. It brought a lot of memories being there in Cibo because I used to frequent it when I'm in Manila.


We hopped to Powerplant Mall and checked out the second Muji store in Manila. One of my friend would love the selections being sold. I think it's much better than Bangkok although I was disappointed with the shoe section.


Then we headed to Univers, a new Homme et Femme store, because they stock Rick Owens. I'm happy you can buy Rick in Manila now. They also have a section for Black Comme des Garcons and exclusive pieces from Eairth. Martin Margiela, Jil Sander, Zero Maria Cornejo, are also sold.


Aside from clothing you can now get some really stylish mags like Arena Homme +, Brutus, Hercules, ACNE Paper, etc., so no need to lug them from abroad. There's also a selection of perfumes, home stuff and little items for gifts.


My Manila trip wouldn't be complete without visiting Eairth, one of my favorite labels. I bought a pants, wrap and an overall jumper this time. I always enjoy my visit there because there's so much love for their craft that you can see. It's something that sets them apart from other hyped label.

I also visited a friend who gave me a stash of really cool pieces from Martin Margiela, Comme des Garcons, Christopher Nemeth and other designer labels for my clothing archive.


My last day in Manila was show day. Mike assisted me backstage and I was truly thankful for it because I was paranoid that the OS jewelry I borrowed might get lost. One funny but nerve wrecking backstage incident was when Mike couldn't find one pair of my tabi footwear. He incidentally dropped it when he was moving it to the men's section. We found it on time but we both were afraid it got stolen.

The Alchemists for 2011

I'm so excited for this! There's just a few labels I truly buy in the strictest sense. I do like shopping and all but I end up buying the same brands every season anyway. One of those labels is The Alchemists, which I have blogged so many times. For this season I feel a more softer mood in terms of color and less of the usual signature asymmetry.

The shirt/jacket reminds me of the first piece I got from the label. The soft gray is love!




The bib/deconstructed shirt is something interesting and new for the label.



My fave though and something I would buy first from this collection is the waistcoat/apron hybrid. Will they have it when I'm in Bangkok? So excited!



The tailoring of the jacket is impeccable. Amazing quality and the fabrics being used are really well thought of.


The white waistcoat wrap looks similar to something I designed before but I know it has surprising details you can't see in the picture.


And that is what truly makes me fall in love with a certain label or a designer, the details. The Alchemists, for seasons now, has been committed in evolving a certain concept and narrative using tailoring and menswear details in a fresh light. Notice the soft pinkish beige top with belt loop on the collar. That detail connects that piece to his continuing obsession of reinventing classic male suiting to adapt to a more forward sensibility.


Here's another waistcoat that I must check. It seems to have a brace detail.


Here's another version with a white strap hanging from the inside.


And finally, a layered waistcoat over an asymmetrical sweater. A darker gray comes into play paired with a slightly cropped slim pants.

Now it's time to save up for these pieces.

Hoodie

I don't know how did my penchant for hoodie or hooded clothing started. If I remember it correctly almost all of my collections feature at least one hooded item. I honestly don't get tired of reinventing it and discovering new ways of making it relevant to my design narrative.

Here's one of our new hoodies for fall/winter 2011.

Two Days in Bangkok

I went on a breakfast date with a friend before leaving for Bangkok, on my way back to Manila for the latest Philippine Fashion Week.


In immigration I spotted this chika girl. Too bad I was afraid of getting a clearer picture of what she's wearing.


I passed by a convenience store to buy water. I got hungry so I bought this Indonesian Satay flavored Pringles. Very interesting. When I was Roxas City recently I tried the Nori flavor. I'm liking all these unusual flavors Pringles is coming out with.


When I arrived in Bangkok I decided to just hang-out at Dean&Deluca.


Free WiFi made it a cool place to just relax and recharge after a long trip.


The garden area is chic, too.


I had some Iced Caffe Latte and Tuna Nicoise Salad.


My first day ended with a very late dinner at Telephone with my very good friend Julius. We spent the whole time blabbing about so many things! I like bonding moments like that.


The next day I spent the whole day going around to different shops and malls. The highlight was finding the new store location of wwa. This Thai label is edgy, cerebral and quite quirky in everything that they do. So the store location follows a concept that you have to 'find it'. This time it was on the 3rd floor of a building with a pizza restaurant and an ice cream parlor below it.


Photos of their new designs greet you and then you know you've found it. No signs except an A4 paper with wwa printed-out.


I was looking for a jacket by The Alchemists, a menswear label that they stock. It's one of my favorite Thai brands. I ended up getting 2 wonderful additions to my growing The Alchemists collection. My first piece is a shirt with pants detail that I blogged here.


This new space of wwa is much bigger than the previous ones. This I think is the 5th space incarnation.


I'm loving a bigger display of accessories.


The black jersey covered seats were kinda spooky.


There's an atelier feel this time. I wanted to just stay there the whole day.


Before leaving for the airport I ate at Hai with Julius. It's my second time eating there and it's safe to say another fave place of mine if you want some real Thai food. Very carinder-eque, I know!


We indulged in double orders of flaked catfish, spicy (and I mean REAL SPICY!) squid and somtam, a papaya salad, with salted eggs. Not so much a meal for champions but definitely something Anthony Bourdain would love.