A Last Look at the Pitoy Moreno Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila

See inside the Timeless: J. Moreno exhibit, currently on view at the M Museum, ahead of its closing weekend.

The walk through the Timeless: J. Moreno exhibit, currently still on view at The M, is demarcated by shadows. They move with you the further in you go, shifting in the soft glow of yellow light. Before fabric and technique, you are met with impressions: of butterfly sleeves extending from shoulders, of the openwork of intricate calado, of the length of a train. 

Designed by Stanley Ruiz, assisted by Stephanie Yebra, the space is divided by sheer cloth reminiscent of the jusi and piña that designer Pitoy Moreno often worked with and is displayed throughout the space. 

Dr. Capistrano-Baker and her team decided that it would be best to arrange the space according to the significant themes of Moreno’s work, rather than in chronological order, drawing a trajectory from his designs for the Bayanihan Dance Company and the Malacañang Palace, modernized Maria Clara, and finally, ending at his then-coveted wedding gowns from the fifties all through the eighties. 

The midsection of the exhibit pays tribute to the worldly influences in Moreno’s work, featuring bubble and bustle skirts, busts adorned with hanging beads, and ornate fabric sourced from Japan, China, and India. But these themes were always tied to a sense of familiarity by way of piña, pearls, capiz shells, and Filipiniana profiles. “I went around the world to show what I do, to make my country proud,” reads one quote displayed on the connecting wall. “However European my clothes are, I never betrayed my roots… remember this: a Filipino who acknowledges being Filipino is a successful Filipino.” 

Moreno’s grandniece Madelaine Moreno Reyes Schnall, who was present at the exhibition’s opening, only stresses the sentiment. “My Tito Pitoy, he was so proud to be Filipino. And you see this as a common thread throughout this exhibit. He didn’t just represent one part of the Philippines; it is from north to south,” Schnall told Vogue Philippines. “And he brought us to a global stage.” 

It was evident, she continues, in the costumes he designed for the Bayanihan world tour, the gown that actress Rita Moreno wore to the 34th Oscars to accept her award for Best Supporting Actress in 1962, and the later-released Barbie doll designed in Gonzales’ likeness, also displayed in the exhibit. “We were present,” Schnall says, beaming. 

And presence, and what it means to be represented and recognized, seems to be the exhibition’s guiding light. In the accompanying catalogue to Timeless, Dr. Capistrano-Baker closed her introduction with Moreno’s own words in sum of a body of work: “Everything I did, I did for my country.” 

Below, see inside the exhibit curated by Dr. Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, the curator-in-charge, and co-curators Ditas R. Samson and Clarissa M. Esguerra. Catch Timeless: J. Moreno”before its closing weekend this Sunday, June 29, 2025, at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in Bonifacio Global City.