Inside Blanc 2025: The next generation of SoFA designers
At Whitespace Manila, the energy felt electric. On Nov. 7, SoFA Design Institute gathered the fashion community for Blanc 2025, its annual graduation show and a celebration of the school’s newest design voices.
More than a showcase, Blanc felt like a study in raw imagination—nineteen emerging designers, each presenting six looks, transforming the runway into a living gallery of craft, thought, and personal narrative.
Blanc has long been regarded as a marker of where Filipino fashion is heading, and this year’s edition underscored that reputation. What unfolded was individual stories, technical precision, and the kind of bold experimentation that has become synonymous with SoFA.
Examining emotion and identity
From Design Studio 4, SoFA’s two-year fashion students examined emotion and identity through deeply personal collections.
Ren Delgado opened with “Umbra Mea,” a meditation on memory and inner conflict, rendered through pieces that balanced lightness and shadow. Summer Villaluz’s “Deepcut” probed authenticity in a world shaped by overconsumption, while Yen Kyla’s “Working Title” celebrated creative imperfection, stitching together fragments of the unfinished into something purposeful.
Joesua Daoang’s “Under Tension” released emotional pressure through deconstructed tailoring, and Kim Tan Sangil’s “The Escapism of Elyse” paid tribute to neurodivergence, courage, and unfiltered expression. In “The Tortured White Dove,” Gab Landicho confronted heartbreak with sharp storytelling, while Deni Garcia’s “E·Qui·Lib·Ri·Um” imagined compassion and balance rising from disorder.
Showcasing mastery and depth
The degree students of Design Studio 8 presented collections shaped by technical mastery and conceptual depth.
Sofie Cristobal’s “Vertigo” translated vulnerability into sculptural forms, while Clarice Dela Cruz’s “Pixelated Dreams” drew from gaming and anime to explore identity through nostalgia and imagination. Royce Bautista’s “Earthly Bodies” grounded itself in humanity’s relationship with nature, and Venice Collera’s “Let Nature Take Its Course” traced resilience and quiet growth.
Introspection continued with Kevin Dela Cruz’s “Letter,” a dialogue with the self, and Hannah Ballesteros’ “Tapawan’s A/Rid Of,” which honored love’s endurance in the face of loss. Reese Capistrano’s “Reflecta” embraced authenticity without embellishment. Meanwhile, RR N. Catalan’s “Langga” revisited memories of youth and becoming, and Janelle Hung’s “一二三 (yi er san)” paid homage to generational heritage.
Completing the lineup, Vianca Escalante reflected fragility in motion through “Vertebrae;” Emir Loresto celebrated music as refuge in “M.E.;” and Angela Quiozon’s “Kritika” asserted a clear sense of creative conviction.
Blanc 2025 was strengthened by the thoughtful collaboration behind the scenes, with partners like Cetaphil Bright Healthy Radiance, New Lounge, L’Oréal Professionnel, Dyson, and Lomography Philippines helping shape an atmosphere where each designer’s vision could take center stage.
