His name may not be as famous as some of his Middle East-trained couture compatriots, but the talent of Filipino designer Izhcka Zeta is as superlative. As the creative director of Jacy Kay House of Couture, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Zeta’s dazzling creations have been worn by Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Sofia Vergara and Dubai royalties like the Makhtoums and Al Nahyans.
“I was—still am—always into fashion. As a child of Samar, my heart was keen on how the colors of our house should come together, how the arrangement of our sala and bedrooms should be, and how fascinated I was with patterns. I remember being in awe of our churches and cathedrals every time my mom would bring me to these places to pray. The bent pillars, the Romanesque or modern facade and interiors all stunned me, as if I was magnetically drawn to them,” Zeta relates.
Women’s curves and nature in all its glory fascinate Zeta. “I also love patterns. I think due to patience and dedication, my eyes and hands became so adept with what types of patterns can highlight a woman’s figure, what can make the neck slender or swan-like and what can make the body fuller. Patterns certainly need technique, and, most important, awareness of how it is to be a woman,” he explains.
He is inspired by structures, buildings and man-made designs, both functional and decorative, which are in themselves inspired by the grandeur of God. “Belief in God pushed so many artisans to create really outstanding creations. They are also my influences,” Zeta says. “I only have one muse—Audrey Hepburn. From cropped silhouettes to LBDs, her natural features could steal everybody’s attention. She could wear striped shirts, don boyish haircuts and still look feminine, ultra-stylish and very confident!”
Admittedly constrained by the lack of resources and opportunities to help him hone his craft, Zeta left his job as a set designer at ABS-CBN and pursued abroad his passion to create clothes. “Staying in the country meant I’d have had to work with what was available, which wasn’t really much in terms of fine resources. I had great inspirations and ideas but the resources and materials available limited me. I was young, so I thought that being abroad would give me the needed resources. I was right,” he says.
Dubai offers more refined, grade-A materials and clients who would spare no expense. Just imagine clients with such disposable wealth that they would ask you to create something regardless of the cost? Then there’s the skill of the workers. Jacy Kay is a melting pot of nationalities with all their traditional skills. The atelier has exceptional beaders whose expertise can be traced to the region’s unmatched beading tradition. It also employs structural cutters whose exceptional handiwork can only be had, again, because they were trained when they were still children, oftentimes because it’s a family tradition.
One disadvantage of working abroad, though, can be classified as emotional, “in the sense that being a Filipino, I always reflect on what I could do for our local fashion resources. There is always that nagging feeling. If our fashion industry were to [get institutional] support, imagine how much it would contribute to the Philippine economy. It is a long and arduous process, but given the time, we know we can make it. Look at it from my perspective, from a Filipino designer living in Dubai. Here, the ones on top of the fashion industry are Filipinos, which means that the talent is world-class and that people do appreciate what we can offer,” Zeta says with conviction.
This emotional need, he readily addresses by going home sometimes twice a year. “Philippine religious tradition like fiestas and Christmas are where my heart really is. The gathering of my large family, the sharing of the meals, the giving of whatever little we can afford are the things I miss the most. People are happy with ready smiles on their lips despite the poverty and inconveniences. And, of course, there’s our resilient spirit,” Zeta says.
Tiered dresses are a staple of Jacy Kay, where the challenge for the designer is in ensuring the successive overlapping flounces will not look heavy—a mistake not a few designers make. “Women wearing tiered dresses should look ethereal, sublime and floating as if on a cloud,” says Zeta. He also gives such dresses a “sexy and sensual twist at the back, given the volume in the foreground. There could be tear-like medallion of beads…it’s as if the gods shed a pristine tear of joy, immaculately preserved.”
When Zeta starts a collection, he relies on people who are experts such as hand sewers, beaders and pattern makers who can execute the themes and inspirations. For this year, he will launch his “Lady of Tudor” collection, inspired by the Henry VII Lady Chapel found at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey in London.
Monarchs such as Henry VII, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Mary I, James I, Charles II and Mary, Queen of Scots are buried in the perpendicular Gothic-style chapel. The chapel’s pendant fan-vaulted ceilings are so magnificent that the English poet John Leyland called it the orbis miraculom—the miracle of the world. These astonishing, gravity-defying patterns are what Zeta has so exceptionally appropriated for his latest masterpieces.
“This particular collection was tricky and so challenging. The chapel is complex and its beauty lies in that complexity. So my collection should mirror the same, but with a touch of femininity. Just like the abbey, the dresses’ artworks’ should simulate its grandeur, intricacy and workmanship. From the slender pillars to the 3D-like, fan-shaped, radiating tiercerons [secondary arched diagonal ribs] to the edges, all these were considered while, at the same time, unifying the whole architectural drama in couture dresses to further its magnificence,” Zeta breathlessly explains.
Like any world-class couturier, Zeta has that insatiable sense of always wanting to create, “to make a fashion representation of what is hard or lifeless, creating enthralling structural beauties that women—and men—can gaze at lovingly, and maybe longingly.”
Image credits: Eros Goze
1 comment
I saw his creations in Dubai and they are really stunning. Dapat yung damit nya ang pinasuot kay MJ!