One of the biggest project I handled from my previous work was organizing a young fashion designer search. It was inspired by the wildly popular Project Runway, of which I am a fan. I also believed and really pushed for the project because I realized that a lot of young Ilonggos do dress up and do make their own little, nice clothes; those creative ones I see at bars and clubs around Cosmo-Iloilo.
It was hard, the selection and gathering of contestants. I must admit I was a little worried that time and thinking what if it will all flop. What if the kiddos produces so much crap? We had plenty of detractors telling us it will not work. Basta it was nakakaloka on my part because everything was my brainchild and I only had the support of my team. Of course, I had Bo with me all the way but generally his help was on the show part. The organizing meant I had to mobilize people in the office and also a lot of my friends. It also required a lot of bribing, hair pulling and acrobatics. Or variations of those, you get my drift. We had the first challenge, did a fantastic show, had a good season and closed the competition with surprising results. Everybody happy. Except our detractors, of course.
I'm happy to say that Design Lab 2007 has produced the next generation of Ilonggo designers who will carry on the legacy of their predecesors who made some contribution in the development and history of Philippine fashion. What kind of fashion is altogether another topic we shall discuss in some future entry. Names like Jor-el Espina (some Mega and Preview feature), Mary Rose Adelie Pacificar (Imagine fashion ed), Peer Lynelle Banas (has a cult following for his dark sensibility), Florad John Gonzales, Angelica Tan (big buttons and ribbons signature), Marvin Bana-ag and the rest of their batch are making some wonderful designs. There's nowhere to go but up.
The picture above features the new batch of Design Lab contestants. New faces, new voices, new fashion vocabulary to watch out for.
(The one in military green is Rofel, the host of Design Lab and the one in white is Bo Parcon, the resident judge and critic of the contest)
