Fashion For Thought: Love Local

Fashion does more than simply depict how the world is, it also demonstrates how the world can be—through wardrobes catered to portray taste in any art form.

Written by Adrian Earl Taruc
March 21, 2023

SUOT’s AKAP Vest in charcoal. Courtesy of SUOT (Instagram, 2022).

The long-standing relationship between art and fashion communicates and connects them both through creativity. It is supposed to give something that words could not solely describe and be a reflection of what a person knows about the world. Interpreting fashion and art enables people to choose how to translate those ideas and experiences into tangible, wearable pieces of expression.

As people incorporate both fashion and art in one’s lifestyles, to be stylish is to give off an impression that may probably influence people around to be clouded with long-term opinions about an individual. Although it takes time to know what style perfectly serves them, finding what suits you best is essential to one’s identity. If you are still muddled about your style, here’s a list of notable Filipino menswear brands that are stunningly artistic, eco-friendly, and high-quality that could possibly influence you to wear and champion it in your own way.

Proud Race's Maong top cut slit maong pants. Courtesy of Proud Race (Instagram).

Proud Race

Proud Race is a design and fashion brand known for its sophisticated simplicity incorporated with idiosyncratic proportions inspired by the Philippines’ underground scene. The fashion brand’s spillway of creativity flourishes on existing silhouettes, taking it to develop an imaginative fraction. With their trademark oversized piece, it trails to a humorous approach of being theatrical yet still dealing primarily with original thoughts and contemporary vision. With an assortment of pieces under its name, the brand took flight and is currently featured in Vogue Talents and Highsnobiety’s Under The Radar designers, among others.

Left to Right: Rust dye and fermented mango on re-purposed cotton/Kalawang at Binurong Mangga and plant-dyed panels button down and kaimito skirt. Courtesy of HimayaPH (Instagram, 2022).

Himaya 

If clothes build image then Himaya crafts a soulful feel in all their crafts. The sustainable clothing brand embodies the upturn of Philippine textile and dyeing techniques while also upcycling materials found in the country. Himaya being keen as praise or glory once translated in Bisaya, the clothing brand expresses ideas engraved in humanity itself. As it stands its ground to grapple with the impudent fast-paced fashion industry that burdens designers with the industry’s fleeting approach to making wardrobes, Mariton Villanueva, founder of Himaya insinuated to be in conformity with people that still inhabit a lifestyle engrained in valuing the environment.

Keeping traditions alive with their textile work; nature and people go hand in hand to pronounce a language of love that serves the community—not neglecting the heritage ingrained in our culture. Himaya’s take on producing attire is propelled through a combustion of rich history able to curate contemporary art pieces that one could wear daily while still holding up to the profundity of work done.

SUOT’s signature fits from left to right: AKAP Vest in charcoal, two-toned, asymmetrical The ROWENA in brown, and the Dominic and Katrina accord. Courtesy of SUOT (Instagram, 2022-2023).

SUOT

SUOT is one of the few clothing brands thriving in the Philippines that caters to various choices with its fits. The unisex and free-size brand entails plenty of baggy, sophisticated, and amusing contemporary designs from top to bottom. The brand’s sophistication puts them up with a fuse of layerings with their work making it function with various materials used from their usage of fabric, putting prominence with comfort while still looking presentable and in style.

Left to Right: Church Shirt in Edition 0 linen denim, Free Cuff Jeans in Edition 0 linen denim, and denim cuff for the CJC UNIVERSE wardrobe, and Maong-Denis Biker Jacket. Courtesy of Carl Jan Cruz (2022).

Carl Jan Cruz

Whenever we look at the past, it reconnects and reminds us of the feeling we used to know. We ought to always look at that chapter of our lives to set something in motion and compare what we feel today. In the same way, Carl Jan Cruz, a Filipino brand based in Manila, refurbishes the longing through its creative outputs. The concept of the brand highly endows deeply-rooted magnetism to nostalgia, bringing intricate details patched together to inspire sentiments substantially. With their products being close to nostalgia, it allows the consumers to grasp the idea and be captivated by the clothing. Cruz’s clothing touches the heart as it does not just show what they sell but also shows what their brand means through a well-built nostalgic factor able to materialize through their clothing.