one of her designs ALANAH TORRALBA
Her floral, lacy creations, inspired by the novel “Anne of Green Gables,” won School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA) student Sylvia Park the top spot at the first SoFA Young Designer for Bayo Design Competition. Aside from winning P100,000, Park, 18, will also get to sell her designs in Bayo under the label Love, Bayo.
Park bested six other contestants at the competition’s fashion-show finale held last month at the SoFA campus on Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati. The other finalists are Alyssa Lapid, Bengt Enrique, Dan Concepcion, Genesis Alcantara, Majesty de Castro and Stefanie Caintic. All are SoFA students, since the competition is exclusive to the school.
Judging their designs were bag designer and Inquirer columnist Amina Aranaz-Alunan, Heima Store creative director Rossy Yabut, Bayo founders Lynn Agustin and Yvette Lejano, and stylist Jenni Epperson.
Each designer showcased a seven-piece collection consisting of one bottom, two tops, one jacket, two dresses, plus a finale dress. They worked around the theme “Modern Fairytale.”
“The first thing that came to mind was Cinderella and other princesses,” said Park. “But I wanted something a bit different. I decided on using ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ my favorite book.”
Park, who is Korean, is also known by her Korean name Park Joo Young. She came to the Philippines when she was 6 years old, and has lived here since (she’s fluent in Tagalog). She is currently in her second year at SoFA, taking up the four-year Marketing and Design course.
She said that, as a kid, she had always wanted to be a fashion designer, but back in Korea, one had to study Art before entering design school. “When I came here, until my third year in high school I had lost my interest in design,” said Park, who studied elementary and high school in Imus, Cavite. “Then I met a Korean art teacher, who taught me how to draw, and the dream came back to me!”
The SoFA Young Designer for Bayo Design Competition started in January, and was opened to all SoFA students. Around 30 applicants sent in their sketches. Bayo chose the seven finalists, who were commissioned to finally create their designs. They were given two weeks to put everything together in time for the fashion-show finale.
“This is a first for both Bayo and SoFA,” says Alunan. “By October, Bayo will be launching [Sylvia’s] collection.”
Photos by Alanah Torralba