Going full maximalism with an archival MARTIN BAUTISTA skirt, DENNIS LUSTICO top, and jacket crafted with lacquered wooden chips, and ADANTE LEYESA Coco necklaces that took years to form. The vintage components of these neckpieces were gathered throughout the designer’s local and international travels, and were combined with new materials for a contemporary touch. Photographed by Borgy Angeles for the February 2025 Issue of Vogue Philippines
The18-year-old joined Vogue Faces, Vogue Philippines‘ Manila Casting Call.
When Vogue Philippines announced a casting call in Manila last November, Lake Trystynne Cabrias hesitated to join. Although she has been doing modeling jobs and placed first in the Face of the Philippines competition in 2023, she still felt that she lacked the experience. “I was really insecure at first because the [other] models sanay na sila (they were used to it),” she shares. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t fit in here.’” But before she knew it, her mother had already signed her up for the casting call. And when she received an invitation to be a part of a fashion shoot, she couldn’t believe it.
“I was disassociating,” she says. “I couldn’t believe that I was chosen out of all the talented models.” Setting her shock aside, she was grateful; it was her first editorial shoot. Set against the backdrop of the Cordilleras, clad in designs by Jor-el Espina, Martin Bautista, Dennis Lustico, Ino Caluza, and other designers, the editorial brought a new sense of confidence for Lake. “They taught me how to improve poses and my expressions,” she shares. It is this aspect of the job that she enjoys the most: being surrounded by creative individuals and industry veterans she can learn from.
The experience opened up her mind to other possibilities. Currently, she is an Accounting, Business, and Management student in senior high school, but doing the shoot piqued her interest in other creative pursuits, such as photography and film. Her interest is fitting; she was named after actor Tristan Lake Leabu, when her parents first watched Superman Returns in the cinema. The name appealed to her parents for two reasons: her father’s name is also Tristan, and her grandmother’s name is Lyke, similar to Lake.
Lake has always been curious and eager to learn, according to her mother. “She told me that I was interested in a lot of stuff growing up, so I never stuck to liking one thing,” Lake shares. In addition to doing creative work, Lake is also interested in studying aviation, aspiring to be a multi-hyphenate. Her confidence to try things comes from her parents, who have always supported her modeling career. “They tell me to be myself and not to be intimidated by the industry,” she says.
It’s safe to say that Lake is a go-getter. Perhaps it comes from her mantra, which is to “live life with certainty.” “It gives me assurance about the future. [It reminds me] to live in the moment,” she says. As much as the future is uncertain and her career is still young, Lake forges ahead, armed with a willingness to learn and the drive to explore what she’s capable of, in modeling and beyond.
