Miguel Rosales on Curating the Vogue Threads Manila 2025 Photo Exhibition

Established art consultant Miguel Rosales factors space, strength, and storytelling as the lead exhibition designer of Vogue Threads Manila 2025.

Before pursuing a career in art consultancy, Miguel “Migs” Rosales spent his formative years in Washington, D.C., where his parents would take him to explore house museums every weekend. As he roamed the halls of Gilded Age mansions and colonial-style homes, he learned to see people’s lives through the furnished interiors they left behind, fueling a fascination with the way one’s possessions could express a point of view.

When he eventually moved to Manila, earning a degree in interior design from UP Diliman, he continued to draw from these memories as an art manager and curator. From restoring local heritage sites like the Palacio de Memoria, to staging contemporary Filipino art shows abroad, Migs approached each project with the experience in mind, recognizing that the space itself was the story, one you learn how to tell as you journey through it.

“I feel like in my work, when I can see it going through my head, and I’m walking through it perfectly and seeing things in place, then I know it’s the right layout,” he shares.

As the creative director of his consultancy firm Caramel Inc., Migs has curated for a wide range of settings that include residences, hotels, galleries, and stores. He recalls some of his most memorable projects: platforming Filipino artists at the Primo Marella Gallery in Milan, among them Ronald Ventura, whom he managed for seven years, and highlighting Filipina abstractionists through his exhibit Pambabae during the 2024 Art Fair Philippines.

Informed by local and international perspectives, Migs finds that both the gift and challenge of his craft lies in presentation. On bridging the gap between artists and audiences, he says, “you kind of have to frame [the narrative] in a different way, no pun intended. Frame the show in a way that can cross boundaries, and choose artists [who] have a very strong voice.”

This month, the renowned curator brings his team to Vogue Philippines, lending his expertise as the lead exhibition designer of the Vogue Threads Manila photo exhibition, which runs from September 21 to 27 at the RCBC Plaza. Featuring over 50 images and 11 videos, the week-long showcase celebrates the magazine’s third anniversary by honoring the creatives who shape its vision.

Ahead of the opening day, Migs speaks on working with the editorial team, a collaboration that had been twice delayed by schedule conflicts, and the months-long process of distilling three years of stories into one cohesive display.

“It’s a very organic approach, but I think the space itself gave clues as to what I should be designing,” he says. “So I came up with something that is a little bit different from usual shows that I do, heavily informed by the photos and the space gave me some parameters.”

From the moment guests step into the room, the sections or “modules” that Migs designed begin their work. Across the entrance, light boxes draw the eye with bold red images that feature figures in motion, enticing the viewer to walk closer, reach the end of the hall, and turn to see the rest of the exhibit.

Positioned nearby is a life-size panoramic photo of men and women dressed in Filipiniana by Joey Samson, encouraging visitors to stand proudly among them and drink in the beauty of the garments. Opposite this are several glass easels with back-to-back images, allowing audiences to approach them from different angles and see something new.

As a whole, the space invites guests to wander and choose their own path, whether it’s toward the horizontal strip that resembles a negative film roll, where the AKTOR fashion film plays, or toward the tribute wall, which gathers the communities in the September 2025 Issue, arranged as an intergenerational spread that was inspired by class yearbooks.

For Migs, this reflects the experience that Vogue Threads aims to build: a collection of memories that feel personal and emotionally resonant, which viewers can explore freely and at their own pace. “There’s no [expectation of] ‘you have to start from here and end up here’ because there is no strict timeline for the photos, they’re very timeless,” the creative consultant remarks. “It’s really about the images and how strong they are, not so much a forced narrative.”

Also included in the exhibit is a triptych-like piece that features Laura Jhane, Jo Berry, and Jon Santos, contemporary subjects whose portraits struck Migs as beautifully classic; a stud frame structure that echoes the rawness of the venue, and which people can enter to view images for sale, benefitting young Filipino designers at the F.A.B. Creatives school; a viewing room where guests can watch videos from across Vogue Philippines’ media channels; and more.

When asked about the moment he knew the exhibition was ready, Migs says that he took a step back and imagined walking through the space again, as if experiencing it for the first time. Stopping just short of the point where it became too much, the designer found clarity in pockets of the room where he felt called to linger, reflect, and look again.

“It’s not an image that flashes for 30 seconds [on your phone]. You can take your time and really absorb and learn from it, be inspired by it… I think that’s the beauty of going to this show. That it’s a completely different experience from what we’re just used to.”

By AYLLI CORTEZ. Photographs by KARL KING AGUÑA. Digital Associate Editor: Chelsea Sarabia. Photographer’s assistant: Rojan Maguyon, Francis Calaguas.