Photographed by Hallvard Cano, courtesy of Ziv Rei Alexi
At WHYNoT’s exhibition SKIN, fashion, visual art, literature, and sound converge to examine memory, identity, and the materials that shape our everyday experience.
Fashion has often been described as a second skin. This June, WHYNot explores that idea with SKIN: A Sensory Perception, an exhibition and fashion market that features designers, artists, writers, and musicians in a shared exploration of materiality and culture.
Running from June 27 to July 6 at Karrivin Studios in Makati, SKIN approaches fashion as more than clothing. Here, garments, artworks, installations, moving images, and sound works become interconnected languages that examine how we wear, perform, and negotiate identity through the surfaces that surround us.
“SKIN is the boundary where self meets world,” the curatorial text reads. “It is the first organ of encounter: sensing texture, temperature, pressure, and presence.”
The exhibition features works by designers Construction Layers, Rod Malanao, Leby Le Morìa, Ziv Rei Alexi, JOS Mundo, Serena San Jose of Kaskdalan, Seine Ventura of Seine Studio, and Angela Reyes of Choola. Joining them are artists Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Marina Cruz, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Therese Regalado, and Juan Alcazaren, as well as writer Conchitina Cruz.
Rather than presenting fashion and visual art as separate fields, SKIN positions them in conversation through material experimentation and installation. From fabric and leather to paint, metal, language, and sound, the exhibition examines how materials carry memory and meaning, and how they transform through contact with the body.
Across the exhibition, participating designers investigate themes of protection, concealment, revelation, memory, and sensation, while artists engage with parallel questions through their respective mediums.
In addition to the exhibition, SKIN will host a series of public programs throughout its run. Fashion films and photography presentations will feature works by photographers Regine David, Colin Dancel, and Neal Oshima, alongside selected editorial materials from WHYNoT’s reading room.
Conversations on material storytelling, textile manipulation, garment histories, and production infrastructures are scheduled for July 4 and 5, with participants including Jodinand Aguillon of Glorious Dias and Stefi Cua of Idyllic Summers. Independent curator and writer Marian Pastor Roces will also deliver a lecture on July 5.
Weekend visitors can also expect DJ sets by Mario Serrano and Kiko Escora, while food concept Wizard will stage a kitchen takeover during the exhibition’s opening weekend.
SKIN: A Sensory Perception opens June 27 and runs through July 6 at WHYNoT, located on the fourth floor of Karrivin Studios in Makati City.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHYNoT Manila is a creative workspace, reading room, and transdisciplinary arts hub located in Makati City.
WHYNoT Manila’s “SKIN: A Sensory Perception” is a multidisciplinary fashion market and art exhibition that explores how designers, visual artists, writers, and musicians intersect.
SKIN: A Sensory Perception opens June 27 and runs through July 6 at WHYNoT.
Artists and designers Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Amihan Aquilizan, Marina Cruz, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Therese Regalado, and Juan Alcazaren; writers and collaborators Conchitina Cruz and Idyllic Summers; photographers Regine David, Colin Dancel, and Neal Oshima.
The ticket costs Php 250 per head.
