Manchester

By way of London, I was invited to present in Manchester for an event exhibiting designers from all over the world.

It was a cold April morning when I arrived in London from Manila. I was in the Philippines as per my usual bi-annual trip for work and play. London was quiet, I was jet-lagged and I had arrived early in the morning…ecstatic at the thought of being asked all the more flown into England to show my clothes.

The concept for the exhibition was: Navy - but also very much about Identity. For years now, my main identifying characteristic has been travel. The outfit I made consisted of a total of 10 pieces, all made in a month leading up to the competition. I reworked styles form the collection I was working on, and revisited the fabrications to align with the brief.

When travelling, your wardrobe is required to be versatile and comfortable - thus the concept of variety and amalgamation that I presented within the look. Not only an ode to the physical idea of travel, but also a nod to my background being multi-national, ethnic, and an outlier in many cases - resulting in a single, present identity.

I have been studying Japanese craft for many years now, and in the weeks leading up to the exhibition was inspired by their tradition of Boro - quilting fabrics, in a very much utilitarian manner, developed by farmers our of pure necessity, and now revered as folk art. The patchwork of the quilting embodies the idea I am presenting through my look: varied background (stories) resulting in a singular presentation.

My interpretation of the Japanese tradition of Boro is my Patchwork Duffel.

Composed of fabric waste/off cuts from four blue-toned hides. More than 50 paper pattern pieces were cut from leather - and each sides of each panel is treated differently. That is some ~200 different operations in the construction of this bag. I hope you like it.