BYS Fashion Week hosts its first ever run for a night of fashion and beauty with explosive surprises.
With physical fashion shows being impossible for the last two years, you could definitely feel the persistence and tenacity of each designer at BYS Fashion Week to give us a spectacle. For the first time, the Australian beauty brand hosts its fashion week—letting notable Filipino designers take up space along with their muses. This time around, BYS changes the usual runway format by giving them the freedom to change their sets and ambiance, locations and even the different makeup looks, of course. See what each of them brought to the table below.
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SHEER FEMININITY
Jaz Cerezo was inspired by the biblical tale of Adam, Eve, and the serpent. The temptation is one of the most memorable stories in history and the designer was able to interpret it through the choice of scale-like fabrics, soft and sharp silhouettes as seen on bejeweled snakes that slithered their way into cutout details, mesh corsets, and scintillating dresses.
Still in the same universe, Cheetah Rivera walks further into the Garden of Eden with her collection called The Dance of the Butterflies. Delicate ruffled dresses, tweed vests, hand-painted skirts by an artist from Laguna all in pastels are evident of the designer’s new illuminated outlook in life. Truly a metamorphosis of Cheetah’s aesthetic as seen on her edgier design roots in the beginning.
At Just Bonita, her company is fun, flirty, and fierce. Crystal slip dresses, men in skirts and corsets, peek-a-boo tops, and everything that glitters were aplenty. The finale?Miss Universe Philippines 2022, Celeste Cortesi in a feathered headpiece and denim redux mermaid dress.
PUNK RIGHT NOW
Coming from the ethereal and delicate silhouettes of Jaz, Cheetah, and Bonita, darkness comes into play at Thian Rodriguez and Kaye Morales’ BYS Fashion Week runway. At Kaye’s, things got graphic—literally—with her bold prints, studs and crown of thorns, BDSM-inspired looks and deconstructed denim. She tapped show-stopping drag queens and had her long-time muse Arci Muñoz as the finale in a boxy top and spray-painted pleated skirt.
For Thian Rodriguez, he shows strength in femininity by sending his models on the runway in utilitarian and avant garde pieces in his now signature leather work and silver hardware. Chainmail tops, pierced leather pants, and air-brushed pieces were some of the mainstays in his collection. Towards the end, he shows versatility by unveiling tulle gowns and pleated skirts, but of course, still accessorized with leather and bondage. Closing the runway show was the perfect muse, none other than Nadine Lustre.
ART POP
Giving life more color and texture, designers RJ Santos of Randolf Clothing and Russell Villafuerte of StrongVillage didn’t come to play. While streetwear was their DNA, both of them showed different takes. StrongVillage mixed tailoring and dainty silhouettes with deconstructed corsets from Nike sneakers, the pops of color from an otherwise darker palette was a clever detail. Patchwork is probably one of StrongVillage’s biggest techniques that he has mastered, juxtaposing textures to form garments like sweaters, jackets and pants.
Randolf clothing is one of the best trend-setters who gave the barong a contemporary take. Incorporating embroidery and graphic patches, complete with the brand’s popular quirky aesthetic that are distinctly Filipino, it was a collection that’s tongue in cheek, yet sharp. His wits extend to bold bodysuits in dangerous cuts both for men and women, suit sets with matching shoes and stockings, evident of the designer’s attention to detail.
ISSA the Brand took us to the other side of the world with scarves inspired by London, Mykonos, Tel Aviv and Korea. Tied in different silhouettes, the ‘Time and Space’ collection showed the scarf styled as draped dresses, sarongs, and even disc fascinators. While international Filipino dance group A-Team opened the show with their ethereal movements and had a sound healer play indigenous music, Yassi Pressman walked the finale in a body-hugging corset and ball gown made out of large scarves.
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