Pinoy playlist gets Pinoy style
As soon as the first few haunting notes from world music band Anima Tierra started playing, we knew we were in for a treat.
For the first time in its seven-year run, Pinoy Playlist Music Festival extended its cultural celebration from solely Pinoy sounds to now include Pinoy style, presenting Happy Andrada last Saturday night in its premiere show, directed by Raymund Seranillo.
The music festival—curated by National Artist for music Ryan Cayabyab, Moy Ortiz, Noel Ferrer, and Maribel Garcia—showcased around 300 musicians from various genres playing simultaneous performances at four separate venues over the period of three nights (although the last day was canceled due to Typhoon “Pepito”). Upon the invitation of Ortiz and Ferrer, Andrada became its first featured fashion designer.
The untitled Filipiniana collection is a tasteful tapestry of tradition and heritage, translating local fabrics and weaves from various regions of the country into modern looks. Andrada threads together the often fragmenting heterogeneity to instead create cool, dynamic pieces that can be broken apart and mixed and matched several times over.
Weaves
Anchored on her commitment to the preservation of local artistry, Andrada explored the meaning of “contemporary Filipino” through her play with textures, patterns, techniques, and cuts.
“I got inspired by the Philippines, by the weaves, the culture. It’s so much fun,” Andrada told Lifestyle after the show. “I merged different weaves together because I found it so colorful and vibrant. It’s nice talking to the weavers, too.”
The multiawarded designer used a lot of local fabrics from all over the country to create the 32-piece collection: inaul from Sulu; binakol from Abra; pinilian abel from Ilocos; jusi, cocoon, and piña calado from Quezon; and piña silk and abaca from Aklan.
She also used Tausug pis siyabit, tassels from Maguindanao, seputangan or Yakan head cloth from Basilan, along with table cloths, blankets, table runners, and placemats (“I want to promote repurposing as well,” she said).
Andrada said that it only took a month to put the entire collection together—”Walang tulugan (no sleep),” she joked—but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the rich selection of spectacularly styled separates that moved around the makeshift runway of the Globe Auditorium at the BGC Arts Center. The sheer variety of cuts, silhouettes, and styles featured in the pieces was practically a lesson in design.
Progressing from barong beiges and whites to an eventual woven explosion of colors, the show effectively reflected the diversity of Filipino culture and artistry, with not a few standout pieces.
Snazzy reinterpretations
The first ensemble was already a stunner: a pristine “jaunt-across-the-countryside” look created by layering together several delicate pieces. In fact, stacking seemed to be the order of the day, with Andrada purposely designing separates “so they can be worn not just once.”
The long sequined barong bib worn over a see-through flounce skirt, the flutter-sleeved barong top paired with a shimmery sheer column skirt and layered tapis, and the barong top with tiered-sleeves and pinilian abel wrap skirt were equally dreamy.
But Andrada has proven that she does cool just as well as she does elegant, like the multilayered androgynous barong blazer and cropped trousers combo; the abaca top with interesting shape and lines; the groovy patterned pants in an assortment of styles; and her signature jackets and blazers that are essentially snazzy reinterpretations of barong and weaves.
The finale, called “The West Philippine Sea,” was also featured at the Fashion Art Biennale in Seoul, South Korea, in September.
“I don’t want to be political,” Andrada said, but “I think it’s important to be really proud of being Filipino. The Philippines is ours and we should support each other.”
