Jae Pickrell of StyleBible writes:
For the past two seasons, we've known him for his use of bright colors and experimentation with sportswear material for a distinctly urban aesthetic; but this season, Don Protasio takes a decidedly muted turn towards nomadic motifs. Using lightweight cotton and overdyed linen fashioned in voluminous, albeit featherlight tent-like silhouettes, Don presented a ten-look collection that represents his own brand of minimalism: "I wanted the pieces to evoke a sense of ease, almost anti-design design."
The accessories deserve a special mention. Don collaborated with new Filipino label Os, which designed the polyurethane "bones" that anchor the oversized, triangular contours of the nomadic garments. Noteworthy also are the split-toed shoes inspired by Japanese jika-tabi boots, which round up Don's roving collection.
Here's what's on my mind when I did the collection:
Inspiration - I started with the idea of release and thought of doing tent inspired shapes. Images of nomadic tribes living in the desert directed the color and subtle details. I didn't really want it to be so ethnic looking so I reduced the cuts to the most basic up to what I'm comfortable with. I wanted the pieces to evoke a sense of ease, almost anti-design design. Like what Diana Vreeland famously said, 'Elegance is refusal'. I guess, my own kind of minimalism. It was a reaction from my last two collections where I experimented with color and sports wear details.
Materials - Very lightweight cotton in greige and linen with over-dyed layer to get the textured wrinkled effect. I decided to use these fabrics because it's travel friendly. The whole collection I showed in PFW fitted in a large Longchamp Le Pliage bag. That included hangers and three pair of shoes for the guys. It has been my obsession to come up with pieces that borrow elements from a 'resort' point of view without my clients looking like tourists. I for one don't do 'resort-y' dressing when I travel for vacation. I still stick to my urban sensibility even if I'm in Bali or somewhere else.
Accesories & Shoes - For the accessories I collaborated with OS, a new Filipino accessories label, who did the polyurethane 'bones' pieces. Amazing quality! I was thinking desert, dead skin, dead animals and voila! bones. Good thing their first collection was all about it, derived from their label name, Os being Latin for bones. It all fitted together for my concept. The shoes was inspired by Japanese Tabi boots and I remember seeing in a documentary Shinto priests using it for purification and burial rituals. I thought it's a nice little jarring detail because some of my pieces evoke a very Japanese feel even though I wasn't really deriving my main inspiration from there.
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