MANILA, Philippines?In his desire to produce an ?anti-red carpet? ensemble, James Reyes shunned color and instead played with contrasting materials and textures to produce a 26-piece collection of quirky black-and-white dresses and separates.

The Tuesday afternoon show at Makati Shangri-La was part of the ongoing ?Fashion Watch? series produced by veteran designer Inno Sotto, with sponsors Nokia, Belo Essentials, Globe Asiatique and Metro Bank Femme Visa.

Just like JC Buendia, last week?s featured designer, Reyes was doing a solo for the first time since he left the ad industry four years ago. He also wanted to present something different without turning his back on his comfort zone.

To realize his vision, Reyes junked the usual ballroom staples such as jewel-toned chiffon and duchess satin in favor of stiffer, heavier fabrics like pin stripped wool, faux leather, glen plaid and dotted Swiss cotton.

As a result, he came up with one of the series? most cohesive-looking collections that neither relied solely on tailoring nor draping.

Instead, Reyes drew from his strength in cutting and layering to produce strapless, cut-on-the-bias dresses and layered separates with flaps, folds, swags, ribbons, hanky drops and hints of beadwork for added visual impact.

To keep the collection from becoming predictable, he did several wide-legged and harem pants as well as layered, above-the-knee skirts paired with peplum jackets.

The designer also succeeded in creating a sense of visual excitement via his semi-beaded series consisting of shift dresses and separates made primarily of wool. The traced grids, he said, were inspired by a typical city?s evening skyline.

Japanese influences were still very much evident in a number of his pieces, including a black trapeze dress with a huge bow and a long, shapeless piece made of pinstriped wool worn over a white cotton top with ruffled sleeves and collar.

But unlike certain designers, Reyes knows how to approach a collection on several fronts. Apart from knowing his target market well (young, unconventional types with refined yet avant-garde tastes), he knows how to draw inspiration from the materials at hand.

?I started working on my collection as early as January,? he said. ?But I had to tweak my vision every so often as the materials I sourced from abroad started coming in.?

Imagination, common sense

Being flexible is an important trait, especially for local designers who rely almost exclusively on imported fabrics. Even the grandest of visions is bound to fall flat without the right materials.

The collection also attested to his imagination and common sense. After cutting several plaid and striped pieces on the bias, for instance, he went one step further by joining the panels together to produce chevron-printed skirts.

Alas, some of the lines didn?t quite match, thus, lessening the desired effect. There simply was no excuse for failing to do something as basic (though admittedly difficult) as aligning lines and prints from different panels.

A piece or two should have been kept in the closet for future use. We found the white, off-the-shoulder cotton number, for instance, a bit off next to the heavy wool pieces.

A beautiful dress with ruffles on the back degenerated into an overly designed piece, no thanks to a pair of seemingly superfluous swags on the skirt?s hips.

To his credit, Reyes didn?t allow the shoes to run away with the show. In lieu of attention-grabbing stilettos and platforms, he made his models wear ballet flats so as not to draw the audience?s attention away from the dresses.

The styling, except for the donut of a hairdo and the scene-stealing Chinese opera headdress, was also anti-red carpet inspired.

In an otherwise black-and-white affair, Reyes? attempt to incorporate hints of color through certain accessories as well as the models? make up worked like magic.