“Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes.” -- Diana Vreeland
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The top guns of the fabled Designers Guild of Iloilo (DGI) took center stage June 1 during the opening day of the Ilonggo Fashion and Jewelry Show, an exhibit and co-event of the week-long Iloilo City Trade Mission and Investment Forum, at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue.
When the visiting fashion designers displayed dresses made out of hablon, a native fabric woven in Iloilo and certain parts of Panay Island, among the first top officials to recognize the artisitc works by Ilonggo designers was Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. who was awed by the locally hand-woven fabric and other indigenous materials used by the artists.
Other dignitaries impressed by the designs during the exhibit were Philippine Consul General Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega and former Consul General Mario Lopez De Leon Jr.
Filipino-American fashion design enthusiasts and other nationals started to frequent the exhibit being spearhead by Gina Sarabia-Espinosa, wife of Iloilo City Mayor Jose Espinosa III, and directed by Gilbert “Bombette” Marin, Iloilo provincial tourism officer.
Fashion mogul Jaki Penalosa, which incorporates, hablon, pina, and silk fibers into her design, led the Ilonggo fashion juggernaut.
Penalosa is a veteran of 25 years whose creations embody the fusion of modern novelty with earthly elegance.
She is known for utilizing Filipino indeginous fabrics to create wearable and timeless pieces encompassed in modern influence.
She was joined in the New York exhibit by Djohn Clement, grand winner in the 2009 Robinsons Iloilo Design Lab competition for aspiring fashion designers; Aisha Penalosa, a fiber artist who creates designs with Hablon. She is Jaki’s daughter.
In her first fashion show in 2009 entitled “Cultural Revolution”, Aisha used hablon to create a showpiece of street giam fashion.
Also in the team were Bo Parcon, dubbed as “Iloilo’s Bad Boy of Fashion” and is one of Metropolitan Museum’s Terno Design awardees and a finalist in the Project Runaway Philippines Season 1.
Parcon’s collections have been frequently featured at Style.com and he never ceases to amaze everyone as he conceives well-crafted collections with the elements of technicals, visuals, forecasts and statements in place.
They were joined by Hector “Totong” Gellangarin, a bold visionary with a flair for combining classic pieces with the iconic hablon fabric.
Totong has three decades of experience in the fashion industry and embraces his Ilonggo heritage and culture as he incorporates native textiles and culture-inspired designs in his collections.
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