Photo by Excel Palanque
Experience the fantastical designs of TernoCon’s contestants and mentors up close.
The beginning of the year marked the culmination of the third-ever edition of TernoCon, which saw the collections of the 12 finalists and their mentors after months of preparation. The event was capped off on the runway at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez Black Box Theatre at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with Yssa Inumerable winning the top award.
This month, thanks to the return of Ayala Malls’ BRAVO! Filipino initiative, a mall-wide celebration of local culture and artisans, the public was invited to view the pieces from the TernoCon designers up-close.
The exhibit, which spans the galleries and atriums of Greenbelt 5, Ayala Museum, and the Glorietta Activity Center, was officially opened to the public on April 12 through to April 16. The opening ceremony saw several higantes and a crew of dancers in traditional Filipino dress tour the guests in a fashionable procession from location to location.
The first display at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery held the collection of Ternocon mentor Dennis Lustico, whose interpretation of the Balintawak includes designs in piña, lace, taffeta, satin, and organza. His mod patterns, vibrant color palette, and detailed embellishments offer an updated yet timeless look to the heritage silhouette.
At the lobby of the Ayala Museum sat the intricate work of design-duo and mentors Chito Vijandre and Ricky Toledo. Known for their maximalist designs that reference a range of historical eras, pop-culture movements, and local tastes, the pair create a fantasy through clothing that viewers can dive into.
Lastly, in the adjacent Glorietta Activity Centers, sat the bulk of the TernoCon display. In the space facing Palm Drive, visitors will find mentor and famed designer Joey Samson’s collection, alongside the pieces of previous TernoCon winner Hannah Adrias.
Samson’s designs draw inspiration from the women in Jose Rizal’s life, from his mother to his muses, and blurs traditional gender boundaries by mixing elements of the barong and the terno. Adrias’ collection contrasts this interpretation of the past with a vision of the future, drawing inspiration from a dystopian landscape and rendering it in a muted palette and distressed materials.
Behind the stage were the obra maestros of this year’s TernoCon contestants, dynamically displayed so that visitors can weave in and out of the mannequins. Joey Samson tells Vogue Philippines that though the designers began mounting their clothes just the day before, the entire setup was conceptualized by none other than TernoCon’s artistic director, Gino Gonzales.
Each of the mannequins have also been painstakingly accessorized, invoking a rich scene from a glamorous fiesta, recalling back to the immersive costume exhibits by Diana Vreeland, who once said “If an 8-year-old girl from Harlem doesn’t understand what she’s looking at, I’m wasting my time!”
With the mall-wide TernoCon exhibit, visitors are welcome to see the Balintawak reimagined first-hand and experience how fashion can allow one to dream.
