Jerome Lorico
“Secret Beach”“We [Filipinos] need to accept who we are. We need to take pride in our products, its materials, and the hands that made them.”
“We [Filipinos] need to accept who we are. We need to take pride in our products, its materials, and the hands that made them.”
With his piece “Secret Beach,” designed for the Vogue Threads exhibition in Paris, Jerome Lorico pays tribute to natural forms, the Philippines’ natural resources, and the hands that make.
With each of his garments, designer Jerome Lorico aims to highlight craft in every detail. His piece for the Vogue Threads: Paris 2024 exhibition, titled “Secret Beach,” is imbued with intention, right down to the label. “[It’s] made of brass formed through high fire, and then poured into a sand mold,” he explains. “The craftsman that made this is an anting-anting [amulet] maker.”
His process revolves around an understanding of our natural resources. Born into his family’s handicraft business, it’s what he grew up surrounded by: “Different indigenous fibers, wood, leaves, roots, bark, and even seeds,” he listed in a conversation with Vogue Philippines earlier this year. “I know how to treat them and respect their properties.”
“Secret Beach” features molded natural capiz shells, as well as woven abaca fiber that he pleated and pieced together in short layers and folds. Though intended to be a skirt without an accompanying top, the piece can also be worn as pictured: over the shoulders for a silhouette with ridges that mimic mountainscapes. The two ways-to-wear offer their own interpretations, too.
He found inspiration was “the Filipina.” Lorico sees her in his mind hanging a lantern by the window at dawn or caught between the mundane, as seen in the 1952 painting Girls Bathing by the River by Fernando Amorsolo. But he also referenced the land, inspired by Siargao and the materials from the Philippines’ land and sea.
He elaborates, “The world is slowly seeing the ingenuity of our crafts,” but notes that there is still more to learn and see. The sentiment doesn’t only go for a global audience but for a localized one, too. “We [Filipinos] are still perfecting our work and identity … but it doesn’t mean that we are not good,” he says. “We need to accept who we are. We need to take pride in our products, its materials, and the hands that make them.”
Within all sources, there is a pattern of finding lucidity in the mundane: bodies and their repeated rituals, the land and its familiar patterns. “Filipino culture in the past,” as Lorico narrates, “did not see nudity as erotic or sensual but as something natural and beautiful. This is the same with our islands; beauty lies in their naked and natural form.”
On its second anniversary, Vogue Philippines invites homegrown and global creatives to Vogue Threads, an experience that weaves Philippine culture, creativity, and community into the world. Its inaugural edition celebrates Filipino artistry and heritage, through an exhibit featuring the works of designers from the islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Photographer: Artu Nepomuceno. Art Director: Jann Pascua. Fashion Editor: David Milan. Production Designer: Riza Rosal. Producer: Anz Hizon, Bianca Zaragoza. Photography Assistants: Odan Juan, Lou Fajardo. Styling Assistants: KJ Villanueva, Miguel Rafael Timbol. Production Design Assistant: Christian Manlunas. PR Associate: Sophia Correa. Backdrop: Espacio Creativo Escolta.
