ONCE in a while, visions of everything that once was—no matter how mundane or irrelevant the images may be—are anything but a distant memory. Because no matter how long ago it may have been, there are objects, situations and stories of the past that are etched deep in one’s consciousness that strike a core. It affects a person in many ways; one can even draw inspiration from it.
Such is the case of this year’s graduates of the Fashion Institute of Design and Arts (Fida) as it presented its graduation collections in a fashion show titled Déjà vu inspired by famous fashion designers worldwide.
Held last month at the North Wing Atrium of SM City Cebu, an assemblage of fashion lovers, fashion designers as well as friends and family of the graduates, waited in anticipation for the preview of the creations of the students.
As the euphonic beats came into play, soon the models emerged and graced the runway showcasing first and foremost the red carpet collections of the faculty members of Fida beginning with the long gowns created by Edwin Alba, the soft and creamy creations by Valerie Alvez, Edward Castro’s trio of luscious pieces in shades of beige, pink, white and purple followed by Angela Dado’s strapless serpentine gown, cocktail dress and long gown in cream and black numbers. Stepping out in the spotlight are the creations by Babes Garso in luscious shades of cream and gold with black accents, Lord Maturan’s designs in dramatic cuts; Mel Maria’s romantic and elegant gowns in poetic hues and Philipp Tampus’ hand embroidered pieces as well as a bouffant white masterpiece.
Pretty soon, the graduation collections of this year’s batch of Fida students commenced, starting with the one-year Fashion Design Technology students composed of Ixa Escario’s collection titled Minutieux which is an all-white ensemble inspired by fashion designer Jason Wu depicting classic clean lines, followed by Lorenzo Ceniza’s Valentino Garavani-inspired red numbers called Redemption with romantic touches with a creative spin of lace. Sheryl Braithwaite’s Blanc et Noir is a collection inspired by Alexander Vauthier showing eye-catching sleeves and silhouettes in black and white hues with Swarovski embellishments, as well as Jeanom Ursua’s Old War collection which is an amalgamation of the classic ‘50s and ‘60s likeness but with a contemporary touch inspired by American fashion designer Zac Posen, and Giselle Lara’s Elie Saab-inspired creations in pastel hues with embellishments which she titled, “Intertwine.”
Next were the collections of the two-year Fashion Design and Merchandising students starting with Enya Fernando’s Tom Ford-inspired collection called Blackout featuring ready-to-wear designs in black. Next came the designs of Mae Ardines called Moins est Plus showing dramatic designs with gold embellishments inspired by Stephane Rolland. Lastly were Megumi Hirokawa’s lush designs in elegant details which she called Classique inspired by Christian Dior.