Filipino Designers Featured in the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
The Philippine Embassy supported young Filipino designers as they showcased their collection to an international audience during the “Asian Fashion Meets Tokyo” segment of the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo on 15 October 2019.
The featured designers, Jace Quiambao, Antonina Amoncio and Bon Hansen Reyes, were winners of the 2019 Bench Design Awards held last 1 September in the Philippines. The runway collections reflect the designers’ vision of a truly global Filipino fashion.
Designs from the collections of Bon Hansen Reyes (left), Jace Quiambao (center) and Antonina Amoncio (right).
BENCH launched the Bench Design Awards in 2017 to put the spotlight on undiscovered talent in the local fashion industry in line with its vision of putting Philippine fashion on the map.
Jace Quiambao’s collection, “A Lepidoterist’s Summer”, took inspiration from butterflies and incorporates traditional Filipino costumes into a modern style. Antonina Amoncio’s collection, “Gunita”, was inspired from children’s books and fairy tales with hand-embroidered fabrics that highlight Filipino culture and values. On the other hand, Bon Hansen Reyes’ collection, “Inuod”, depicts pre-colonial menswear which aims to disrupt gender norms. BENCH also featured its own collection taking the baro’t saya to a new level through its young, hip and modern aesthetics.
BENCH’s Executive Creative Director, Ben Chan, in a press conference with the featured Filipino designers (left); Ben Chan with Philippine Embassy officials
The Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo is hailed as one of the world’s renowned fashion weeks, in league with those held in Paris, Milan, London and New York.
