THE mantra of the current fashion times is “immediate, fast and available”. Across fashion capitals, the retail model “see now, buy now” is how brands cope with the frantic pace of the style cycle.
Donna Karan has been preaching about this pragmatic approach for over a decade. And as seen on international runways, Tom Ford, Burberry, Rebecca Minkoff, Tommy Hilfiger and even Ralph Lauren has followed Karan’s example.
Showing direct-to-consumer collections was given a Philippine context at the first Bench Fashion Week (BFW) Spring/Summer 2017, running from March 10 to 12 at The Playground, Bench Tower, Bonifacio Global City, when retail brands under the Bench umbrella presented their seasonally appropriate offerings.
On Day One, retail brands Kashieca and Vero Moda and young designer Sassa Jimenez were the first to showcase their collections. “As you can see, this fashion week is about spring/summer, because we want to do it ‘see now, buy now,’” stylist Noel Manapat said. Unlike in fashion weeks past, you don’t have to wait for six months to be able to buy and wear the clothes you’ve seen on the runway and double-tapped on Instagram.
It was about vintage 1970s charm, quirky prints, shoulder-baring blouses and daring denims at Kashieca. Over at Vero Moda, it’s about being overtly girlish in oversized jeans and having a certain individual edge (urban safari, jackets over shirts, layering without matching).
I’ve followed Sassa since her first collection, and her latest shows a restraint that signifies maturity.
“My collection is called ‘Alice 2.5’. Alice is one of the names I wanted for myself, so I think in making this collection I wanted to revisit a lot of my old techniques when I began because I was really young then, that was around almost 10 years ago. I wanted to revisit my old style but with a fresher look,” she said after her show. “I took a hiatus for a while. I just really took a break from making collections. It’s called Alice 2.5, so I kind of jumped ahead and this is like a newer, more mature brand.”
Continuing, Sassa said: “I think it’s a more conscious decision [to do a more commercial collection], in general, because of how fashion behaves nowadays, with social media and online shopping. It’s a conscious decision made by all designers now to make things more commercial and more relatable. The aesthetic was really to show off the clothes. A lot of jumpsuits. I wanted to make things that were easy to dress up and dress down. Even the silk dresses, when you wear them with sneakers, I think it would totally fly. Even if you’re not a model.”
The 12 pieces, which are mostly made of silk gazar, satin, tulle and satin-cotton blend, won’t be sold at Bench stores, however. Sassa is set to open a new atelier on Jupiter Street in Makati City sometime in April. The separates can sell for P4,000 to P6,000, while the dresses can go from P15,000 upward.
“It’s not difficult to say yes to Ben Chan. It is [a gamble.] But I also haven’t done a show in a long time. I really jumped at the chance to do one this year. My last show was 2015 for Metrowear. I usually do a lot of shows in a year,” she added. “I wouldn’t say it was emotional. It’s more nostalgic, because I got to work with people who I used to work with, like Eric Maningat, who used to do makeup for Philippine Fashion Week for my second show ever; and [director] Robby Carmona. It was just me doing the styling. I guess that’s the emotional part because I did it myself.”
Bench is celebrating its 30th year. Besides this spring/summer presentation and the holiday edition in September, there will also be the denim and underwear show in November. The sexy spectacle will be headlined by math wizard/supermodel Pietro Boselli, who’s currently in town to meet fans. He will be at SM Lanang in Davao on March 14.
Besides Sassa, the young duo behind Proudrace (Patrick Bondoc and Rik Rasos) showed on Day Two along with Human and Cotton:On, while Ziggy Savella was featured on Day Three with American Eagle Outfitters and Bench.
“We planned this fashion week only this year,” said Ben Chan, unfazed by competition posed by global retail giants coming into the country. Besides the brands under his Suyen Corp., he felt that Filipino designers should also be highlighted. “They were chosen, because they were young. Yes, there are many [exceptional talents] and there was a shortlist, but we’ve worked before with Sassa, Proudrace and Ziggy.”
Sassa was also glowing with gratitude: “I’ve worked with Kashieca before, and I’ve always had a great working relationship with the organizers of BFW. Aside from that, I’ve always believed in Bench as a really Filipino homegrown strong brand. I think it’s quite an honor to be chosen as one of the designers to be part of the first Bench Fashion Week.”