Talk of the Town

We’re back after a much-needed break from the heat. This month, we’re excited to share more about our cherished national attire and a new collection on Philippine botanicals. Additionally, Louis Vuitton debuts its Philippine website and Rocio Zobel launches her oh-so-sexy swimwear collection

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FASHION & HISTORY

FILIPINO PRIDE

It took a century of butterfly sleeves, presidential inaugurations and the steady hands of our greatest couturiers to bring the terno to where it is today. And now, finally, it has the book it deserves.

The Terno: A Century of the Philippine Dress arrives through a partnership between BENCH/and Rizzoli New York-an appropriately grand pairing for a subject of genuine national significance.

Authors Gino Gonzales, a Fulbright scholar, and Sandra Castro, a seasoned material culture historian, trace the evolution of the dress from 1920 through to 2020, with more than 300 images spanning archival portraits, restored photographs and newly commissioned work. The contributions of National Artists Ramon Valera and Salvacion "Slim" Lim Higgins are given the weight they merit.

For readers here at home, BENCH/has prepared something particularly special: a two-volume collectible set in a hardcover slipcase. Consider it the definitive edition for those of us who wear the terno not just as a garment, but as a point of pride.