Modern Barong Interpretations

June 5, 2024

Fashion designer Happy Andrada has been an advocate of supporting and using Philippine weaves for her collections. Since the early days of her career, she has been modernizing barong for quite some time. “My vision is to reintegrate the distinctive look of Philippine traditional wear to everyday wear, something you can add to your daily wear and it becomes a modern take on our national outfit.”, shares Andrada.

For her latest capsule collection, she created Barong Bib, Bomber Jacket, and Filipiniana with a twist. Merging tradition with modernism, she added an iridescent material to make it more fun, colorful, and a conversation piece. She deems it as a representation of the colorful Philippine culture.

The collection is made with cotton, chiffon, tulle, and a reflective fabric that I sourced from her recent trip to Seoul and paired with Philippine textiles such as pineapple silk from Aklan and piña cocoon from Quezon. She also combined hand embroidery techniques from Laguna and Bulacan. By choosing to create with local materials, she can support Filipino skilled artisan workers in several communities who produce these specially made fabrics.

Citing her philosophy in continuing heritage in fashion, “I believe it’s important to support and nurture local, creating ready-to-wear garments made by local weavers that would preserve the tradition and would inspire future generations of weavers to learn this unique craft and knowledge that has been handed down throughout Philippine history.”

The capsule collection is available in Happy Andrada’s atelier in 24 KD corner K1st, 11th Jamboree Extension, Quezon City.