Cordillera fabrics featured in New York fashion show

BAGUIO CITY – Cordillera art and fabrics got a break in the international scene following the feature of homegrown products in the 16^th season of the Couture Fashion Week in New York which started yesterday until tomorrow at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, New York.

Myrna Pablo, regional director of the Cordillera office of the Department of Trade and Industry said Cordillera products represented the Philippines in the prestigious event that included exhibitions of fine art, luxury products and services, world-class entertainment, receptions and after parties along with a series of runway fashion shows showcasing couture and fine fashion of evening wear, elegant fashion, cocktail dresses and couture bridal as well as fashion jewelry and accessories.

            

“Cordillera art, fabrics and culture were given a rare chance to be promoted internationally through the event, Pablo said.

           

He added Philippine arts, heritage, culture and tourism were also given a break in the prestigious event  attended by over 5,000 upscale consumers, press, trade buyers and VIPs as well as a post-event extended audience in the millions through press and internet coverage.

            

Pablo said the Philippine fashion and lifestyle showcase devoted its first in a series of presentations in New York event that will feature first-class Philippine hand-woven fabrics such as the “abel” OF THE Cordillera, featuring the new spring-summer hand-woven of Narda’s, together with the “abel-Paoay” of Abra, the “tepina” of Puerto Princessa City and the “abaca” of Tabaco City, Albay plus the intricate embroidery works of Lumban’s “bordaderas” in Laguna.

            

Fashion designer Barge Ramos, internationally known for his “Pinoy” dressing using indigenous fabrics and Joseph Domingo, also a renowned San Francisco-based Filipino fashion designer, will present today (Sept. 16) their creative treatments of Narda’s hand-woven fabrics in the Cordillera segment of a forty-piece collection of Philippine contemporary wear for men and women for the Philippine Gala Show at the Couture Fashion Week in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria New York New York time.

            

“A collection of proudly Filipino fashion jewelry and accessories using the Baguio silver filigree designed and created by Arnel Papa, a fashion jewelry and accessory designer-exporter, will also compliment Ramos and Domingo’s collections,” Pablo said.

            

Andres Aquino, the Dominican Republic fashion designer and founder-organizer of the Couture Fashion Week New York, has specifically chosen Narda’s Cordillera hand-woven to be the official fabric he used for his centerpiece creation in the Fashion Avenue International Designers’ exhibit at the Silver Corridor of the New York hotel.

           

 According to Pablo, the international event is an appropriate forum to showcase the world-class craft traditions and the travel destinations of the Cordillera thereby boosting further the country’s global tourism campaign.

            

Leonarda O. Capuyan, president of Narda’s Handwoven Arts and Crafts, Inc., said Narda’s invested its own resources for its participation in the international event since it saw the opportunity as the beginning of a new marketing thrust for the new designs, colors and textures of the Cordillera hand-woven fabrics that can hit the international market.

            

“After the New York event, a comprehensive product development and marketing program will be in place,” Capuyan said, adding that Narda’s will not mass produce but they will come up with exclusive Cordillera designs that they can offer the fashion capitals of the world such s Paris, France and Madrid, Spain, both in Europe; Malaysia and Japan in Asia.

           

 Moreover, Narda’s will also be featured in ISEND WEFT 2012, the World Eco-Fiber and Textile Exhibition and Conference in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, on Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 where Shirley Alejandrino, Narda’s in-house fashion designer and Andrea Mangusan will represent Ms. Capuyan in the said international event.

            

Capuyan said for this upscale market, the production will be less but the gains will be more for the weaving communities.

            

Benguet-Ifugao-Bontoc-Apayao-Kalinga (BIBAK) Northeast USA president RoelMarchadesch and Marie Buking, BIBAK’s project coordinator for the event, confirmed the participation of their organization by providing a native Igorot flutist and a group of dancers all fully garbed in different Cordillera authentic attire to perform an opening number for the Cordillera segment of the Philippine Gala Fashion Show. – Dexter A. See