Evening gowns and beaded swimsuits share the catwalk last Friday night at Philippine Fashion Week

The first designer show this season opened with Albert Andrada and Supermodel Charo Ronquillo walking down the runway in a dramatic black gown. “Monarch” was the inspiration for Albert Andrada’s first black collection in the Philippines. Associated with royalty and the magnificent butterfly, it brings to mind sophistication and elegance. Done in Tulle, Organza, Satin, and Lace, the pieces were close to the body and feminine with their sweeping hemlines. The deep ebony palette was softened with touches of blush and the collection lightened at the end by the bride in an off-white gown.

The second collection showed us a whole new Eric Delos Santos with his collection “Genesis”. Inspired by the South Beach and the Bahamas, Eric decided to veer away from his signature evening wear and instead gave us fun and very wearable resort pieces. Featuring a lot of prints such as Aztec, paisley, and chevron, the clothes were body-conscious, body-fitted, and featured cutouts. This collection also featured his first foray into men’s wear where he dressed them with print on print pieces.

An eerie video opened the collection entitled “After The End”, Jerome Salaya Ang gave us the post-apocalyptic human race in an intergalactic quest for a new home. Contained in a seeming ‘Noah’s Ark’, models came out with masks and in pieces in a vast range of colors, prints, and silhouettes. Loose animal-print dresses shared the catwalk with structured pieces with beadwork inspired by corals, as well dual fabric-layered dresses and space-age-y gowns echoing the waves of the sea.

Jun Jun Cambe earned a collective gasp of surprise when an man in trunks opened the show followed by models in colorful beach cover ups. Nonetheless, his Spring/ Summer 2014 collection was signature Jun Jun Cambe. The John Paul Gaultier of Manila brought back his personal style on the runway with his quintessential black and white separates of pants, skirts, jackets and tops. He featured 80’s street clothes with a twist, with pieces that have no structured lines, no defining silhouette, and absolutely avante-garde.

For his 2014 collection, Norman Noriega gave his women a minimalist to androgynous look. The pieces seem to be primed for summers spent either indoor or traveling, conscientiously ignoring the call of summer’s usual bright shades and pastels instead preferring neutrals – white, black, and gray. Crease resistant and suitcase-friendly fabrics terry cloth, spandex jersey, and knitted fabric were hand-chosen to create pieces from shapeless sweatshirts to boxy mini dresses.

Taking inspiration from a recent trip to St. Tropez, Raoul Ramirez imagined the aspirational life of the ladies in yachts and how they spend the glorious summer days. He dressed them up for every occasion ranging from beaded swimwear, luxurious casual wear, to exquisite ball gowns. Done in chiffon, jersey, and metallic vintage lace, the pieces came in black, white, gold, and the occasional red, white and blue – the color of France. Raoul Ramirez ended with a black and gold intricately beaded ball gown that would easily suit any European princess.