Dennis Lustico Is Past The Need To Impress

With piña taking center stage, the designer’s Filipino Luxe pop-up at Power Plant Mall this October explores Filipino craftsmanship through a contemporary global lens.

For Dennis Lustico, Filipino luxury is about far more than what we wear.

This October, the designer brings Filipino Luxe, his second pop-up collection, to Power Plant Mall, where he explores local craftsmanship through a contemporary, transseasonal wardrobe.

But Lustico’s idea of Filipino Luxe extends beyond fashion. It is, he says, a way of living.

“If Filipino Luxe is a way of life, we will definitely have a transport system like Hong Kong, parks and recreational areas like Taiwan, a service-oriented government like Singapore, and we will be dressing up every day with chic sophistication, refinement and functional modernity like the Japanese but with a true Filipino sensibility,” Lustico tells Vogue.

His vision also includes a well-established textile industry, one that commands the respect of fashion capitals, alongside a vibrant manufacturing sector whose exports make a significant contribution to the Philippine economy. For Lustico, luxury is not simply an aesthetic. It is also about building the infrastructure and industries that allow Filipino creativity to thrive.

That conviction comes through in his approach to the terno. Asked what he would like to see less of in Filipino dressing, his answer is pointed: “Seeing a single-sleeved terno dress or gown.”

He adds, “I feel like Filipino designers should get a master class from Mr. Gino Gonzales before experimenting on the terno.”

After decades of designing, Lustico is equally candid about where he stands in his own creative journey. “I’m past the validation stage, [I] need no approval from anyone other than the clients that I make clothes for,” he says. “I’m past the impressing-the-people phase.”

What matters to him now is the joy of making. “What I like as I mature as a designer is that I create because I believe I’m doing something beautiful. I create because I love the whole process of product development, for the simple and pure reason that this is what gives me joy.”

That maturity informs his definition of timelessness. For Lustico, creating clothes that last means knowing the difference between trend and style.

“It’s juggling trends and style and separating them,” he explains. “Being conscious of the element of newness, making it obvious in the storytelling and yet when you look at the bigger picture, it becomes only a small part of the whole collection.”

The bigger picture is functionality and clothes that can transcend seasons.

For the second pop-up, Lustico has put that philosophy into practice through the power of piña. Some 90 percent of the comeback collection is made with the fabric, explored through stripes, embroidery, weaving, beading, dyeing, and distressing.

The collection also places piña in conversation with fabrics Lustico has collected on his travels, including Indian linen, French and Italian lace, Thai silk, and Japanese cotton.

“The objective of our second pop-up collection is to show avenues that piña can seamlessly mix with imported fabrics,” he says.

The result is Filipino Luxe as Lustico imagines it: not nostalgia dressed up as fashion, but Filipino craftsmanship given room to travel, evolve, and exist comfortably in a modern global wardrobe.

Lustico’s holiday pop-up runs throughout October at Power Plant Mall, Makati City.