Rebooting Philippine Fashion Week
After a period of scaled-down events and pandemic-related challenges, Philippine Fashion Week (PhFW) is poised for a triumphant return next year. PhFW 2025 will serve as a platform for Filipino designers to unveil and sell their latest collections, and for industry professionals to foster valuable connections.
With a global outlook, PhFW is actively seeking collaborations with international fashion weeks and foreign designers. This strategic move aims to bring Filipino fashion to a worldwide audience. By participating in PhFW, both local and international designers will have the opportunity to showcase their work to a discerning global audience of customers, influencers, and media.
This is the plan of Jose “Nikky” Nicandro III, chief vision officer of Amoroda Inc., the company that has acquired the rights to PhFW from founders Joey Espino and his brother Audie. Nicandro leads the rebranding, with chief strategist Priscilla Santos. The Espino siblings will remain involved as executive producers, and Joey Espino will continue to direct some shows.
At this time, Nicandro and Espino are keeping PhFW’s specific dates and venues under wraps. However, Ayala Museum, where the PhFW relaunch was held, is confirmed as one of the event sites. The current campaign aims to raise awareness of PhFW’s rebranding to attract both designers and event partners.
Business and fashion
PhFW began in 1997 when Ayala Malls asked Espino to direct a fashion show featuring its tenants at Glorietta. Espino used this as a platform for the brand storytelling of the fashion stores to showcase their unique brand perspectives. Since then, PhFW has evolved through various phases, influenced by different factors.
During the robust economy of the Arroyo administration, PhFW expanded into a full-blown spectacle at the SMX Convention Center, inviting designers, high-street brands, institutional brands, and consumer goods companies to participate. It introduced then-unknown designers such as Michael Cinco, Ezra Santos, Ivarluski Aseron, Jerome Salaya Ang, Vania Romoff, and Sassa Jimenez to the scene. Even Albert Andrada, the couturier to the Dubai royal family, discovered a lucrative Philippine market after participating for two seasons at PhFW.
However, challenges in securing sponsorships, designer participation, and logistics compelled PhFW to switch venues from the convention center to hotel ballrooms.
The new PhFW has emerged as an important moment for its brand by aligning with seven key vectors: Fashion, Dining, Beverages (Wine & Spirits), Home, Travel, Arts and Entertainment, and Wellness. PhFW aims to be more than just a trade show; it seeks to capture the imagination of a wider audience.
“Fashion cannot stand on its own anymore. We will be aligning with other territories where style is intrinsic. PhFW can be bigger, bolder, and more sustainable,” says Nicandro.
E-commerce
Espino notes that PhFW, often perceived as a glamorous spectacle or an ego trip for designers, is fundamentally a business. Designers must strike a delicate balance between artistic expression and commercial viability. A collection, no matter how innovative, is ultimately judged by its potential to sell.
The challenge lies in predicting consumer behavior, which can be fickle and often surprising. The key is to create designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and commercially viable, a feat that requires creativity, business savvy, a deep understanding of the fashion industry and market behavior, says Espino.
That said, PhFW is creating a free website for designers to use as an e-commerce platform, attracting local, foreign, and overseas Filipino customers.
“We want to bring to the mindset of designers that fashion should be a business. We started talking to seven designers who want to reinvent the runway and build their own brands. We are helping the likes of Amir Sali, Jaggy Glarino, and Jobert Cristobal craft their brands and run their campaigns,” says Nicandro, whose other company handles branding.
“In the past, we were after the number of designers. We are done with creating awareness and are getting down to business. Their brand has to sell out there.”
Nicandro’s ultimate dreams are to be the first fashion week to explore business opportunities outside of the Philippines; to initiate the first-ever museum of Philippine fashion history; and to discover the first Filipino creative director to work for luxury conglomerate LVMH.
