Fashion Week fever isn’t over yet. Japan, the ever-eccentric fashion nation in Asia, welcomed Filipino designers in its most celebrated fashion event of the year, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo (MBFWT). In its latest spring/summer ’16 show held from Oct. 12 to 19, fashion designers Renan Pacson and John Herrera, and accessories designer Ken Samudio are the very first Filipinos invited to stage their collections at the Asian Fashion Meets Tokyo show.
The biannual event held every March and October exclusively featured the three designers’ works. Though each come from different perpectives, the designers had a few things in common: their love for black and similar sources of inspiration and materials.
Couturier John Herrera’s pieces gave off a vibe of bioluminescence, the state wherein marine animals tend to glow underwater. The abbreviated black cocktail dresses, languid tunic tops, and trousers came with neon highlights that punctuated the theme. Think embellished neon pieces acting as gills and flap-like headpieces and accents doubling as fins. But the light show only happened towards the end when the lights turned off and these brightly hued designs lit up in the darkness. It is no surprise that this very collection won him first place in the London Emerging Designers (LED) Awards this year.
Accessories designer and former marine biologist Ken Samudio also picked up on the same theme. He put his previous experience to good use as he filled the runway with psychedelically colored clutches, oversized bangles, and multidimensional neckpieces—all mirroring coral reefs and sea creatures. The pieces that formed all 10 looks were made with recycled plastic bottles. The models wore similar little black dresses that made the pieces stand out even more.
Young designer Renan Pacson, however, broke the mold by presenting streetwear instead. He showcased a 20-piece black and white collection of oversized tees and puffed jackets along with loose, exaggerated separates. Mesh and jersey fabrics took the forefront in his designs, while knitwear made of pineapple fibers were also highlighted as the main material. Some of the wearable pieces came with geometric emblems that might just be Renan’s new signature and maybe a new streetwear attitude.
These three designers weren’t the only Filipinos in the MBFTW. With the help of removed word Philippines Airlines, six models from the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP) were flown in and had their fair share of the limelight. Models Aya Abesamis, Shermane de Ramos, Hye Won Jang, Tola Orendain, Laurens Tolenaars, and Lou Yanong wore pieces created by the designers on the runway.
With the help of the Japan Fashion Week Organization (JFW Organization), where Filipino model Tetta Ortiz-Matera once served as consultant for the project, along with Ayala Corporation, the Asian Fashion Meets Tokyo show became a new international platform for Filipino talent to be widely recognized.
Watch the full Asian Fashion Meet Tokyo show in the video below.
https://youtu.be/FOiIcS0Uy3M
Click the slideshow above for a preview of the three collections! See the full collection here.
Photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo