Jojie Lloren sought out art historians Albert Avellana and Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Boots Herrera to curate 39 paintings done by famous Filipino artists, from Juan Luna to Lee Aguinaldo.
After carefully choosing the 39, in no specific order of rank or popularity, Lloren went to Hong Kong to source wonderful fabrics—cotton pique, linen silk, duchesse satin and printed velvet—to create 40 pieces, each as different in design, cut and execution as the next, for the Red Cross Charity Gala. There were tailored suits, tuxedos and fancy jackets mixed with feminine draping, circular ruffles and ballroom gowns.
Avellana and Herrera challenged him not to use handpainting or dyeing, because that would be too literal. So all the colors were achieved with painstaking cutwork.
“I used laminated found objects like shells, buttons, metal fitting and wire, then burned holes with katol (mosquito coil). It was certainly a conversation between me and the paintings,” said Lloren.’
Love these cerebral interpretations from a gifted couturier.