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‘Balik Saya’ design competition serves up luminous, fresh takes on the baro't saya
An elegant take on the baro't saya might not be the first choice for formal events, but fashion experts want to make a case for the national dress as the ultimate prom dress and more.
At the first ever "Balik Saya" design competition held at the National Museum of Natural History on Monday evening, fashion enthusiasts who hail from the 5th district of Manila joined the event to innovate the traditional Filipiniana into something modern and contemporary.
The Top 15 finalists came from St. Scholastica's College, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Technological University of the Philippines and Colegio de San Juan de Letran, they presented their designs at the show.
Their project mentor and fashion designer Jojie Lloren said it was both challenging and refreshing to teach aspiring designers who have raw skills, but are fueled with passion.
"First of all, it was kind of hard because these are not fashion designers [yet]; they are, as you said, enthusiasts [and] hobbyists. A lot of them came from St. Scholastica, they are senior high school students, so parang they are very raw, we require them to seek the help of pattern makers and sewers. With what I've seen, the finished garments are satisfactory naman," Jojie told GMA News Online in an exclusive interview.
Mariah Parayray from St. Scholastica's College took the top prize with a sleek and simple white off-the-shoulder baro and a piña see-through knee-high saya.
The elements of a contemporary baro't saya
One of the panel judges, fashion designer Randy Ortiz said the winning design represented what's up-to-the-minute in modern fashion, which had earned their nods.
"What made that dress win is she was able to capture the attention of the judges in the sea of clothes that are lookalikes. They almost all look alike. It's really how she interpreted today's contemporary world, how she was able to utilize the fabric, how wearable the cloth is, we believe that made her stand out among the rest," Randy told GMA News Online.
Meanwhile, fashion designer Rajo Laurel said they decided to go for something less "gowny" and something that would make anyone excited be dressed in.
"I wanted something honestly contemporary and wearable, for instance, I want [young people] to be excited to wear it and that's we chose something that's not too gowny, because basically we don't wear gowns in [our] everyday lives, we want to figure out how to make this everyday."
Fashion icon and jewelry designer Tweetie de Leon, who also served as a judge, noted that it's not about the "technicality" but more of the design and the ways of interpretation.
"We really were looking for the design aspect of the whole judging, that was the point of this competition. We didn't really delve much into the technicality or the execution. It's more on how the ideas were expressed, how they were able to interpret the baro't saya; some interpreted it as modern, others very sexy — it's really a point of view," she said.
Although it's nice to give your Filipiniana tweaks to make it look modish, Jojie reminded designers to maintain these two elements intact: the panuelo and the sleeves.
"It all depends on the designer's creativity, they just have to tweak it a little, make it a bit different from the usual baro't saya that you see, but I told them that for it to look like a modernized or updated Maria Clara, the people should also see the same elements of a Maria Clara: the panuelo and the sleeves; the tapis is optional na, the panuelo and the sleeves should be there."
He also said the baro't saya fashion is a timeless ensemble that would go on for years.
"I guess Filipiniana is a classic because it's the national costume so I don't think that the style will fade in time. There will always be people who will appreciate seeing the national costume, it's just a matter of carrying it and you know accessorizing it according the person's taste and personality."
The rest of the Top 5 include Alaine Isabelle Leones in second place, Somera Rana in third place, Sanra Galang in fourth place and Margaux Gustilo in fifth place.
Special awards were given to Christian Bulasag as the FAB Choice awardee, Vianka Lorraine Castro as the SoFA awardee and Rana Sacramento as Rustan's Iconic awardee.
Completing the panel of judges were fashion designers Inno Sotto and Criselda Lontok, model-turned-photographer Jo-ann Bitagcol, 4th District of Leyte Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez, queen of knitwear Lulu Tan Gan, and architect Tobias Guggenheimer.
"Balik Saya" is a project of Intramuros Administration and Manila's 5th District Representative Cristal Bagatsing. — AT, GMA News
