ANGELA O. Soriano, one of Cagayan de Oro City's well-known fashion designers, left the crowd in awe with the line-up of stunning dresses and natural-looking makeup in her private-viewing fashion show last Monday, December 17, at Minindal Cuisine in Upper Camaman-an (near Richmond Hills Subdivision), this city.
Invited guests feasted their eyes with the amazing prom and debutant collection of Soriano, the extraordinary holiday collection of fashion designer Dirkie Roa Dabay, and the natural-looking beauty done by make-up artist Angela Montalvan.
Soriano has been doing private-viewing fashion shows for a couple of years, however, this is the first that she collaborated with a fellow designer and a make-up artist.
"Ever since, I have been going solo. So I said, 'You know what, you should do this every year.' I should invite at least one or two designers and then we could do more for the spring-summer next year. We could invite a lot of good designers in Cagayan, our members of the OFDG (Oro Fashion Designer's Guild)," Soriano said.
"So we get at least three to four shows in a year. That's supposed to be the process," she added.
Soriano is a member of OFDG, a group composed of fashion designers in Cagayan de Oro City. She has been good friends with both Dabay and Montalvan.
"The two of them have been recently active and I want to promote them. I want the people to know that they are here, they are active, they can actually do stuff for a lot of people, the makeups and then the dresses. So, it is high time for them to showcase the collections [of Dirkie] as well and the talents of Angela," Soriano said.
Soriano's design for her prom and debutant collection, showcased during the private-viewing fashion show, is made with the client in mind, according to her.
Each of the gowns has different characteristics that show the personality of the clients wearing them.
Apart from that, Soriano's dresses are also anchored to last for several years despite the changes in the fashion trends.
"Actually my main aesthetic is, most of the time I am modern-classical. So you could wear it after two or three years, you could wear it after 10 years. That's what I love to do," Soriano said.
"Per season, we change the trends and every time, every year, there are new trends. But we want to make something that could be in between. It could be classic and at the same time, trendy. But you can still wear it after 10 years," she added.
Soriano's private-viewing fashion shows are more intimate and personalized compare to the usual shows we see.
"You will know the artist up close in a bigger picture, than in a big event," Soraino said.
Last Monday's show was the fourth private-viewing event for this year. According to Soriano, another event, the Spring-Summer fashion show, is set to happen in March 2019.