There is no doubt that the Philippines has already been put on a pedestal many times where fashion is concerned. For indeed, there are several Filipino designers who are so full of talent creating a distinct Filipino style in fashion.
One of them and perhaps the one that put fashion enthusiasts all over in Asia and perhaps all over the world in awe is Filipino designer Jose “Pitoy” Moreno in whose formal Filipiniana dresses have already make it to the fashion public worldwide.
Heads of states, Philippine and American first ladies, influential American women, international socialites, actresses, beauty queens, famous ballerinas and European and Asian royalties alike all make a special trip to the Philippines just to avail a piece of clothing from him that would surely become a part of history. These women who travelled from Paris to London, from China to Japan to literally all parts of the globe came here, not for any other special purpose but to avail of a special Filipiniana piece of his creation.
There is no other haute couture Filipino designer that is absolutely world class than Moreno. The most outstanding contribution that he did was to promote local Philippine clothing materials and Philippine fashion internationally. He made the local fabrics such as the pina and the jusi part of women's clothing. Nationalistic as he is, he transformed Philippine costumes into wearable high fashion ball gowns and formal dresses. His creativity and resourcefulness for using local Philippine materials is truly admirable.
Designer Pitoy Moreno has successfully modernized our national costume and introduced it to the international fashion scene. He had made a mark by pioneering the modernization of the Maria Clara and continuously doing so to our national costume.
The Filipiniana gown that made wonders to the fashion scene is a stately ternos (which in Spanish means “to match”) with upright butterfly sleeves, nipped waists and straight or flared hems, 19th century-inspired Maria Claras with softly flowing lines and shoulders draped by the pañuelo (a popular look for weddings), and structured formal evening wear.
This modern Maria Clara gown was used to be a dress with several pieces like the baro, saya, tapis or sobrefalda, panuelo, inagua and a matching paineta, tamborin and zapatilla were combined into one gown. The sleeves were shortened into an iconic design element, the butterfly sleeves, making it wearable, modern, and distinctly Filipino
What made each pieces overwhelmingly Filipino are the fabrics used by which sourced only from indigenous and traditional materials from the Philippines itself the likes of jusi and, pina. The use of this native stuff introduces our culture as it recognizes and makes a clear statement that indeed our culture can be interesting after all.
Yes, where fashion is concerned, the Philippines do not lag behind. Thanks to the man who made it happen. His contribution dates back to the 1950s give us a glimpse of his distinctly Philippine fashion aesthetic—and how he has single-handedly made the look iconic by dressing the most elegant women here and abroad.
One internationally well-known Filipino designer based abroad, Lesley Mobo, have credited Moreno for making fabric such as pina competitive. The Harrods-prized designer has advocated “a return to local expertise and authentic sensations” to balance globalization. Thus, it was no wonder that a terno-like silhouette showed up in the clean-lined pieces during one of his fashion event for a famous international line of clothing.
Other internationally acclaimed foreign designers can only regard Moreno’s fashion sense with awe. What they thought and expected to see as merely native costumes turned out to be high fashion instead.
This has answered the question whether there is actually a distinct Filipino style in fashion. Yes, certainly there is.
In this context, we could only thank Pitoy Moreno for paving the way. Indeed, his National Artist award for Fashion Design draws inspiration from his design to reference his identity while looking to the world. He was arguably the Philippines most internationally renowned designer and though not officially, he has been considered an ambassador of Philippine fashion.
A master of formal Filipiniana, there is no doubt that once a consumer sees his creation, an expected remark would soon follow, “Oh, that’s Filipino fashion.”
It takes a visionary creativity to explore what is Filipino with childlike wonder and focus. It is in fact harder than what one actually thinks. But Philippines actually made it. Thanks to Pitoy Moreno for paving the way.
