MANILA, Philippines—It was nowhere near as colorful and melodramatic as “Project Runway,” but Cinderella’s “Designer’s Competition” recently held at the Peninsula Manila was also able to generate its fair share of promising talents.
Niño Dominic Angeles, 31, bested four other finalists to win the first-ever design tilt organized by one of the country’s pioneer fashion specialty store chains.
The event, which generated almost 150 entries when it kicked off in July, coincided with Cinderella’s 60th anniversary.
Angeles drew inspiration from the Japanese parasol to produce a cohesive three-piece collection of semi-boxy dresses and separates made of earth-tone ramie linen.
“Designing is what I really love to do,” said Angeles, a computer-programming graduate from the Systems Technology Institute and former restaurant manager.
“I shifted careers fairly recently to do corporate uniforms.”
Each finalist was asked to draw inspiration from elements they deemed “innovatively global and fashionably summer.” Relying on their own funds, they were each allowed to do three pieces to make a statement.
“Dennis Castillo, artistic director of Cinderella, oversaw our work from time to time,” said Angeles. “I have no problems conforming with certain guidelines since that’s how it is in the real world.”
Second place went to Mary Joanne Lesaca, 23, while Eugene Lloyd Oliva, also 23 and the only finalist who did a men’s wear line, settled for third place. Both runners-up finished interior design at the University of Santo Tomas.
Wearability
Judges, led by designers Rusty Lopez and Ito Curata, seemed unanimous in their choice.
“I like everything about Niño’s clothes, from the design to the construction,” said Curata. “The collection is cohesive and it conformed with the summer theme.”
Curata also noticed the clothes’ superb fabrication and their wearability. He chose Oliva’s men’s wear line consisting of royal-blue and yellow cardigans paired with black denim pants and striped tees as second best.
Like Curata, Lopez also put emphasis on wearability since part of the winner’s prize is a career-defining business contract with Cinderella as one of its in-house designers.
“His clothes have market value and the silhouettes are fresh,” said Lopez, referring to Angeles.
Instead of giving the silver to Oliva, he opted for Lesaca, who did neon-colored A-line dresses and a pleated jumper inspired by the “goddess of Tahiti.”
Apart from Cinderella’s Castillo and Marielle Santos-Po, the other judges were photographer Sara Black and Loralee Baron-Soong of the School of Fashion and the Arts (Sofa). Angeles’ prize also includes a one-year scholarship program at Sofa.
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