Style Manila was at yesterday’s Black Fashion Show at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati. It’s in celebration of Clear’s launch. As much as I think that it’s highly fabricated that stylists would claim black items occupy the far back of their closets just because of dandruff, I’m sure it’s just part of the drama, which the event called for. So, I’d rather drop this silly thought and focus on the fashion show instead.

As expected, the star of the show are black ensembles from ready-to-wear to haute couture. The show featured Folded & Hung, Viktor, Kate Torralba & Puey Quiñones.

(Click thumbnails to see a full-sized version)

I particularly loved the romantic creations of Kate Torralba. Everything was so feminine and chic. I had wanted to meet her afterwards but next time perhaps?

There were collections that were repetitive, hence, became a little boring. I believe that if you’re going to do a show, you should style outfits that will stand out and create an definitive impression, not something that will end up looking like a mix and match sort, if you know what I mean. Too bad cuz I’m the rock chick sort and would’ve loved to feature more. Ah, well.

Puey Quiñones’ work reminds me of the now defunct (as far as I know) House of Hypocrites. The latter is influenced by the “rave” culture while the former is quite reminiscent of the reversibles — funny cuz we talked about those 80s clothes after the show — but, of course, I reckon his work is influenced by the “way of the samurai” basing it on what he was wearing that day. Turning Japanese, are we? Hehe. But I’m highly impressed. His collection was a breath of fresh air, even with all the mist in that “bubble”.

Photo © 2007 Sasha Manuel