Only 22, this designer is already an expert in fabric, proportion and silhouette
YOUNG AT 22 AND ON HER THIRD season in Philippine Fashion Week, Melissa ?Sassa? Jimenez has shown great promise.

She has always been fascinated with ?80s fashion. Her inspirations are the songs of Madonna, Cindy Lauper and Blondie.

She energized the ?80s look with a color palette, reminiscent of the facets of the disco ball (electric blue, black, gray) in minis, jumpsuits and rompers, using locally sourced jerseys, lamé and colorful snakeskin.

The collection celebrated the architecture of womanly curves, emphasizing the big shoulders balanced by full hips. Instead of the unflattering, football padded shoulders, the sleeves were draped, puffed or embellished, balanced by gusted skirts.

A cum laude graduate of Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, Jimenez learned that cut, construction and drape were more important than the design itself. She got straight A?s in pattern making and sewing, and it was obvious that these were her strengths.

Unlike other young designers, she has already established a distinct look early in her career?strong but feminine.

The most striking thing about her clothes is her understanding of the role of fabric as the basis of good design. Her choice of heavy, stretched materials and the perfect seaming enabled the clothes to move and pulse with the body. Pleats and drapes added visual interest to the body-sculpting designs. Jimenez also revived the panier (pronounced pan-yare), the puffing of the skirt at the hips.

With her solid technique, refined taste and oomph, she?s got the makings of a classicist who rocks.