Photographed by Karl King Aguña for the October 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines
This month, designer Michael Leyva launched an 18-piece capsule in collaboration with Plains & Prints, marking his first ready-to-wear collection in his decade-long career.
The walk up to Michael Leyva’s atelier, located on the sixth floor of The Peninsula Manila, feels like going up Paris’ Sacré-Cœur. There, the annual trunk show and fundraiser MaArte Fair is in full swing on the day of Vogue Philippines’ visit; multiple hotel spaces, including all rooms on the fifth and ninth floors, are abuzz with swarms of friends and families on the hunt for their next local artisanal find. The lobby’s dining area is full. There’s a queue forming before the elevator. It’s not unlike the ever-bustling crowd of tourists and locals at the foot of Montmartre’s beloved basilica.
Landing on the sixth floor however, the hallway ahead is bereft of ushers and patrons. It’s almost solemn, the lone walk from the lift to Room 618. Once the door swings open, its interiors dazzle: a stark white entryway leads directly to a foyer displaying gowns crafted in billowing yellow taffeta, embellished pink flowers, and what looks like a thousand multi-color sequins and beads.
In the adjacent room, from behind a large marble table where he meets clients, the designer welcomes Vogue with a smile and a box of his favorite chocolates. He is at ease in this space, their home of a year which was baptized with six meetings and 18 fittings on their first day there. On this particular day, his schedule includes an appointment with Roxanne Ang-Farillas, co-founder and creative head of local fashion retailer Plains & Prints.
“This is our first collaboration, but I met Michael at Anne [Curtis]’s wedding,” she shares with a smile, referring to the actress’ 2017 nuptials in New Zealand. “We always see each other at events, but we were never formally introduced to each other,” Michael confirms.
Seven years on this October, the pair is launching an 18-piece capsule under the line Plains & Prints x Michael Leyva, making it the designer’s first ready-to-wear collection in his entire decade-long career. Over the years, he and his team couldn’t accommodate client requests for RTW pieces given their lineup of bespoke bridal, menswear, and Filipiniana projects. Offers to collaborate with other brands came and went.
Yet when Plains & Prints sent him a message in November of last year, Michael said yes immediately. “If you were able to collaborate with them you already made it,” he says. Part of what made it feel right was Plains & Prints’ capacity and willingness to drive his vision through logistics and production support. “We’re responsible for making his dream come true,” Roxanne says, emphasizing that Michael’s only responsibility was designing the clothes.
The two see this partnership as an opportunity to bring Leyva’s opulent evening and occasion wear to a wider audience by injecting craft techniques to everyday pieces. Michael acknowledges that he’s “known to be a designer that focuses so much on details, beadwork, crystals, patterns,” which is why for ready-to-wear, his keywords include “very classic pieces, day wear, night wear.”
Ironically, paring back his designs required Michael to tap into a “wild imagination.” Melding his brand’s maximal proclivities with Plains & Prints’ casual styles, his design studies have led to a tight edit of satin halter tops in rich chartreuse and milky white; crepe jumpsuits in ruby and emerald, and chemical lace dresses in black and white. Roxanne’s personal favorites are a long-sleeve top and midi skirt hemmed with layered organza discs, referencing an organza cape carried over from Michael’s latest couture show.
Though the designer rarely has time for his hobby of painting, he picked up a brush again for Plains & Prints to create an original artwork of aubergine, mustard, teal, and purple hues distilled in geometric shapes that figure on a top, dress, skirt, and trousers.
As they walk us through the collection, the pair note that a couple of garments aren’t final in their fabrications yet as they are undergoing minor tweaks. All initial samples were made in-house at Leyva’s before being passed on to Plains & Prints for production. Roxanne notes that Michael is very hands on: Jhyll Cantong, creative team lead at Plains & Prints, recalls when she traveled for an hour all the way from the other side of the metro in Quezon City to Michael’s atelier at the Peninsula, just so he could touch, feel, and see a selection of fabric swatches himself. Their meeting lasted five minutes.
Their upcoming collaboration is the latest in a series from Plains & Prints, who keep themselves relevant by consistently introducing fresh perspectives through designers, photographers, or other creative players. Most recently, they collaborated on capsules with Barbie, Emily in Paris, and photographer Mark Nicdao. “It creates interest. It creates a diversity of the brand. I think that’s very, very, very important because if people see that we can offer different things, they won’t get bored.”
The dedication both teams committed to the partnership led to a creative process guided by listening and learning. For Roxanne, it’s the whole point. “It really needs to be two minds working together, not limiting the creativity of one, and actually enhancing and helping one another to achieve our common goal.”
