MOD ESTY

The mantle of distilling the essence of Mindanao’s aesthetics, writes GINO GONZALES, rests on its young designers.

- PAM QUIÑONES.

"Modesty” is a celebration of modest dressing—a choice that favors less skin-revealing garments that fulfills spiritual and stylistic principles for reasons of faith or a simple personal preference to cover up. In the context of contemporary fashion, which tends to emphasize the contours and exposure of the body, modest clothing revels in forms that conceal the body.

The assemblage is also intended as a celebration of Mindanao’s myriad of design languages in the larger context of global fashion… one that straddles the tightrope of genuine appreciation for tradition and the impulse to infuse it with contemporaneity.

The mantle of distilling the essence of Mindanao’s aesthetics rests on its young designers like Abdul Gafar, a Maranao who fuses respect for tradition with modern sensibilities.