WITH SM Lanang Premier’s endeavor to showcase local designers’ fashionable clothes which are so creatively designed, Davao’s large shopping mall held its first Filipino Fashion Fare in cooperation with the admirable Philippine Fashion Coalition from February 25 to March 23, 2023. The Philippine Fashion Coalition (PFC), which was established in 2020, is an organization with the mission of supporting an all-inclusive Philippine fashion industry in the fields of textiles, arts and craft, design, and creative services. Through this admirable organization, fashion designers, manufacturers, retailers and those who work in the country’s fashion industry have joined hands with the PFC to help save jobs for the workers to survive the difficulties wrought by the pandemic. It was reported that the creative industries were among the hardest hit during the long pandemic lockdown.
It is well known that the struggling fashion industry of the country has always been fragmented; and the PFC is, indeed, a force for its unification. The PFC is the organization advocating for the needs and concerns of leaders and professionals working in the field of fashion. Happily, PFC has earned the support of SM. “The PFC has unified a group of creative visionaries representing the regions of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with a goal to standardize and develop the industry.
Together with SM Supermalls, the two have joined hands to create a new marketplace that champions Filipino fashion designers in the Mindanao region, organized by the private fashion trade organization, FashX represented by Carmina Sanchez-Jacob who is the CEO and co-founder of FashX,” revealed the PFC representative, JR Arce, who could easily pass for a fashion model himself.
The Filipino Fashion Fair held at the atrium of SM Lanang Premier was truly a celebration of Filipino design which made it accessible to Mindanao fashionistas. The week-long fashion event had the PFC pop ups for participating brands and fashion designers namely Edgar Buyan, Orias, Jor-el Espina, Vina Romero, Debbie Co, Puey Quinones, Beatriz, Costa del Sol, Studio Regina Aquino, WYC, Egay Ayag, Vestido, Poivre, and some pieces from the Paris collections of Rajo Laurel and Dennis Lustico under the FashX collective. It was a joy talking to Iloilo’s supreme fashion designer, Jor-el Espina, from whom I bought modern stylized barongs. He seems to be popular among the fashionable Chinays of Davao who have been his clients for a time; and Davao’s well-dressed supremas, Joji Ilagan-Bian and Nicole Bian-Ledesma. Pep-C Hizon Velez also bought Jor-el’s stylized barong while his lovely wife, Gemma, opted for FashX outfits.
“We strongly believe in the power of collaboration between the PFC and SM in taking significant steps towards the mission of making quality Filipino fashion brands accessible to everyone. We hope that through this event, we can help create a path and a future for all stakeholders in the Philippine fashion industry,” commented Tourism Regional Director Tanya Rabat-Tan who graced the launching of the Filipino Fashion Fair.
Mabuhay, PFC! Mabuhay, SM! Mabuhay Filipino fashion designers!
