Search this site

Rik Rasos puts Proudrace on a runway the way a person puts their whole heart on a table, open and unbothered about what happens next. By Kobe Janer Rik Rasos learned to love clothes in two rooms. One was his aunt's tailoring shop near his childhood home in Legarda, where he helped out in exchange for being taught, and where he first fell for the way a pattern becomes a garment. The other was wherever his family opened the balikbayan boxes his father sent home from abroad, packed with whatever clothing would keep the breakables safe. He cut those up and made them into something else. He has been doing a version of that ever since. "As a child, I would deconstruct and rebuild objects, fabric, paper, even clay, driven by curiosity about how things are made and transformed," he tells BLNC. "That instinct for experimentation still anchors my practice." Proudrace closed MNL Fashion Week 2026, the last show of four days, and the collection came out of that same instinct. He built it around extending the life of a garment rather than making one from nothing. "I was drawn to how fabric naturally falls," he tells BLNC. "Curtain folds, incidental drapes, and everyday movement." The Adidas collaboration runs through the whole collection and the proof of it is everywhere, three stripes cut apart and stitched back into track jackets that have been split down the middle, recombined with denim panels. A brown pair of track pants comes out with nothing above it, the model's body covered instead in temporary tattoos. One coat is a patchwork of faux fur in brown and grey and cream over faded denim, the kind of thing that should not work and then does. A white lace tank ends in a long fringe at the hip. A pink striped dress falls past the knee over dark jeans. And then a tote comes out, printed and bright, and it looks exactly like a sako bag. Every Filipino knows a sako bag. It is in the kitchen, at the palengke, in the back of the car during province trips, stuffed into balikbayan boxes. It has carried groceries and pasalubong and entire childhoods, and nobody has ever once called it fashion. Rik put one on a runway next to an Adidas duffel bag, and it held its own. None of this is where the brand started. Proudrace came out of Manila's underground in 2012, and that energy never left, but the focus has moved toward craft and everyday Filipino life. "Instead of looking outward, we now look inward," he tells BLNC, "translating lived experiences into a contemporary fashion language." That is what he wants people to take home. "Our roots and shared experiences are not limitations but foundations for innovation," he tells BLNC. Proudrace is the first Filipino fashion label to collaborate with Adidas, and before that the clothes found their way to BTS, Grimes, A$AP Rocky, and Alison Wonderland. He does not talk about legacy. He talks about possibilities. If the journey helps one young creative believe a Filipino brand can exist globally without giving up who it is, he says, that already means something. And it is not over. Proudrace shows again at Bench Fashion Week Holiday 2026 on September 26 and 27 at One Ayala in Makati, this time with Human. Somewhere in Legarda there was a boy in his aunt's shop learning where the seams meet. He never stopped. He just kept going, kept cutting, kept rebuilding, kept loving the work long before anyone was watching, and now a whole country gets to wear what that love turned into. Photos by @chapterph and @xavieryuphoto

For his second MNL Fashion Week collection, RJ Santos built a room where an ending and a beginning could sit down together. By Kobe Janer Everyone knows the room. The lights are too bright and never go off, the air smells of antiseptic, and somebody's tita is asleep sitting up in the corner. Waiting is the part nobody tells stories about afterward, because nothing happens in it. It is only the hours a family spends between what was true this morning and what will be true tonight. RJ spent four days there in January. His grandfather passed away, and before the family had finished grieving, his niece Sari was born. Nobody could stop wondering about it, so they said it out loud instead, asking each other whether the two of them had somehow already met. The Waiting Room, the second MNL Fashion Week collection for his label Randolf, is his answer. "I imagined a waiting room that exists somewhere between the real and the unreal, where memories, hope, and uncertainty all coexist," he tells BLNC. He has described it as a meeting between two souls, one on the way to heaven and the other on the way to Earth. The set made it literal. At the end of the runway stood a pair of double doors, the kind that swing open at the front of an operating room, and every model came through them. Flowers run through the pieces, because flowers are what people bring to funerals and hospital rooms alike. They arrive blown up across a sheer babydoll dress, photographs of blooms set into rings of colored tulle like framed pictures nobody has taken down. They come printed small and repeating across a high-necked top, like wallpaper in a house somebody grew up in, and elsewhere they are cut from fabric and sewn on one at a time, gathering along a hem the way they gather on a casket. Sheer black tiers swing out from a slip dress. Striped denim is cut into hearts and stitched onto a zip jacket. Tattoo motifs are embroidered onto skin-toned mesh, birds and stars where a real tattoo would sit. A tulle veil carries the brand name across the eyes, roses stitched at the temple. The silhouettes run big and soft, closer to something a child would be swallowed by than anything cut to fit. RJ had gone looking for a flower named after his niece and found one, the Iris Sari. At the show, the Goo Goo Dolls came through the speakers, a ballad everybody has known since they were young and nobody had ever once heard as being about a baby girl born four days after a death. "I hope people leave thinking about the stories they carry with them," RJ tells BLNC. "We all experience moments of waiting, uncertainty, loss, or change, but we rarely stop to reflect on them." Most people survive a week like his and carry it quietly for the rest of their lives. He made his into a room and let a city sit in it. Sari is too young to remember any of this. One day she will find the video, where she will hear her song playing, see the doors, and understand that in the week she arrived, her uncle filled a runway with flowers for her and for a grandfather she will only ever know through stories. Grief can be beautiful, if somebody is willing to do the work. That is what love looks like when the person doing the loving happens to be an artist. It does not bring anybody back, it just refuses to let them go.

From magical road trips and accidental hitmen to ghosts, first love, family, and the quiet weight of mortality, Puregold CinePanalo 2026 brings together seven Filipino stories that refuse to stay in one genre. Filipino cinema has always found a way to make the extraordinary feel close to home. A carabao can become a companion on a journey to Manila. A ghost can become the object of someone's affection. A thousand-peso birthday errand can turn into a moral dilemma. And somewhere between life and death, family, love, and loss can reveal something about the way we understand being Filipino. This is the territory Puregold CinePanalo 2026 enters with its newest lineup. Returning this September, the film festival brings together seven full-length Filipino films, each with its own world, tone, and way of telling a story. The lineup moves freely between drama, comedy, romance, supernatural fiction, and magical realism, while bringing together some of the country's most recognizable actors and a new generation of performers. The result is a festival that feels less like a single cinematic statement and more like a snapshot Seven films. Seven stories. Apol of My Ai Directed by Thop Nazareno Zanjoe Marudo, Rochelle Pangilinan, and young actor Zion Cruz lead Apol of My Ai, a story about growing up, family, and the complicated distance that can develop between a father and his son. Apol stands on the threshold of manhood while navigating his growing feelings for his choir teacher. At the same time, a painful decision made by his father, Poli, threatens their relationship. Music eventually becomes the thread that brings them back toward one another. With Mads Nicolas, Kat Galang, and Jacob Kawagdan also in the cast, the film places family and coming-of-age at its center, asking how love can survive the things we don't always know how to say. Beast Directed by Lawrence Fajardo John Arcilla takes on an unexpected journey in Beast, playing Lolo Omeng, an aging farmer who travels to Manila with his loyal carabao, Pepe, played by rising actor Ruslan Jacob. What begins with a final harvest gradually becomes something more magical, shaped by memories of Lolo Omeng's niece. The film brings together rural life, memory, family, and fantasy, placing one of the most familiar figures in Filipino agriculture at the center of an unusual cinematic road trip. Candy Pangilinan, Karl Medina, XY Martillo, Raul Morit, Dax Alejandro, Onyl Torres, Marvin Yap, John Arceo, Neil Tolentino, Jemuel Satumba, and Sol Samodio complete the ensemble. Stuck On You Directed by Mikko Baldoza Xyriel Manabat finds herself in one of the lineup's most unexpected roles as a heartbroken manicurista who accidentally accepts a hitman's job. Starring alongside River Joseph, Manabat's character is pulled into a conspiracy where protecting her family could ultimately mean killing the man she loves. Part romance, part crime story, and part comedy, Stuck On You takes the familiar idea of a disastrous love story and pushes it somewhere considerably more dangerous. Roger Naldo, Bob Jbeili, Bombi Plata, Viggo Franco, JM Salvado, Joel Saracho, and Renzie Aguilar also star. Patay Gutom Directed by Carl Joseph E. Papa Sometimes one wrong bite is enough to change everything. In Patay Gutom, Khalil Ramos plays a grumpy shut-in whose life takes an unexpected supernatural turn after he accidentally eats an offering meant for a ghost. Suddenly gifted with a third eye, he finds himself caught between the living and the dead. Ian Pangilinan, Agot Isidro, and Cris Villanueva join Ramos in a story that mixes the supernatural with romance, family secrets, and heartbreak. At its center is an unlikely connection between two people existing on opposite sides of life. Mono No Aware Directed by BC Amparado Singer-songwriter juan karlos steps into a dramatic role opposite veteran actor Perry Dizon in Mono No Aware, a quiet story about mortality, grief, and the connections that can emerge between strangers. Set in Japan, the film follows a Filipino kodokushi cleaner who encounters an elderly widower living alone. When the old man asks for one final favor before he dies, their meeting develops into an intimate reflection on family, impermanence, and the things we leave behind. Momoko Kobayashi, Paolo O'Hara, Kentarou Furuyama, Aika Higashimori, Kaname Nagamori, and Tadashi Watanabe round out the cast. Multwoh (Patay na Patay sa 'Yo) Directed by Rodina Singh What if death didn't stop you from finally saying I love you? That question sits at the heart of Multwoh, starring Sassa Gurl and Joao Constancia. After a college queer suddenly dies in their dorm, they return as a ghost, not seeking revenge but trying to finish one last piece of unfinished business: confessing their love. The film brings together a sprawling ensemble including John Lapus, Iyah Mina, Phi Palmos, Mae Paner, Buboy Villar, Pipay, Gaia Poly, Yani Villarosa, Migs Almendras, Kaladkaren, Inah Evans, Christian Antolin, Lui Manansala, Sofia Trazona, Arman Salon, Chino Liu, Tart Carlos, and Eric Fructuoso. Funny, supernatural, and potentially heartbreaking, Multwoh approaches queer love through the most literal idea of unfinished business. Wantawsan Directed by Joseph Abello A thousand pesos. A birthday. A struggling father. And one very complicated decision. Joross Gamboa stars in Wantawsan as a father who receives money from the newly elected mayor he supported. He intends to use it to buy food for his son's birthday, but what should be a simple errand becomes a comic test of his values, resourcefulness, and conscience. Zion Cruz, Rita Daniela, and Alwyn Uytingco join Gamboa in a story that finds humor in an everyday situation while asking a very Filipino question: what would you do when doing the right thing comes at a cost? A festival built around Filipino stories What connects these seven films isn't a single genre or aesthetic. It is the desire to tell stories that feel distinctly Filipino while allowing filmmakers to approach them from unexpected directions. There are farmers and fathers, lovers and ghosts, children becoming adults, people confronting death, and ordinary lives suddenly thrown into extraordinary situations. The casting also reflects the festival's growing appeal. Established names such as John Arcilla, Zanjoe Marudo, Xyriel Manabat, Khalil Ramos, Joross Gamboa, Agot Isidro, Rochelle Pangilinan, and Perry Dizon appear alongside younger and emerging performers, creating opportunities for different generations of Filipino talent to share the screen. CinePanalo's 2026 edition also continues its commitment to emerging filmmakers through its student short-film category, with 20 student films selected from 267 submissions nationwide. It is this combination of established talent and new voices that makes the festival worth watching beyond the individual films. CinePanalo is becoming a space where Filipino cinema can experiment with what a local story can look and feel like. Cinema that feels close to home The best Filipino films don't necessarily need to explain what makes them Filipino. Sometimes it is already there in the family dynamics, the humor, the language, the places, the contradictions, and the way people continue to find love and hope in difficult circumstances. That spirit runs through this year's CinePanalo lineup. Seven films. Seven different worlds. But underneath them all is the same impulse: to tell stories about people, made by Filipino storytellers, for Filipino audiences. And perhaps that is the real Panalo. Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival 2026 runs from September 23 to October 4, 2026, screening at Gateway Cineplex 18, Trinoma, Fairview Terraces, Feliz, Ayala Malls Circuit, Ayala Malls Manila Bay, and Market! Market! Regular tickets are ₱250, while discounted tickets are ₱200. A festival pass covering the lineup is priced at ₱2,000. For more festival updates, visit the official Puregold CinePanalo Facebook page.

Kalye Trez Mixtape is Eugene Malabad's real debut, assembled from Manila, his grandfather, and the films he grew up on. By Kobe Janer Nobody becomes themselves from one thing. It is a song, a street, a film watched too young, a grandparent's old stories, all of it layered until a person is the sum of whatever they happened to love. Eugene Malabad built a collection on exactly that. Kalye Trez Mixtape had its runway at MNL Fashion Week 2026 for Kill Joy Studios, put together the way a mixtape is put together, one track at a time and in no particular order. He tells BLNC the collection started as a pile of personal references. Growing up in Manila, his grandfather's connection to the Air Force, 80s and 90s music, coming-of-age films, and his own experience as a queer Filipino designer. Instead of choosing one, he treated them the way anyone treats a mixtape, "mixing things that feel nostalgic, personal, and familiar into something that feels distinctly mine." The clothes carry all of it at once. Cord is looped and knotted across bare skin in long wave patterns, tops built out of rope more than fabric. Fringe falls in heavy curtains from wide, low-slung waistbands. Dyed bands run vertically down tanks and trousers, and other sets are marked over with rough diagonals. Edges are left raw and frayed on purpose. The bags come soft and oversized, slung low or carried in both arms. He describes his creative identity as taking ordinary references from around him and reinterpreting them through a personal, contemporary lens. That is harder than it sounds. Design here has spent a long time being asked to prove itself by pointing at the obvious, and Malabad trusts that the ordinary is already enough, that a street and a song and a family story can hold a runway all by themselves. What he wants from it is bigger than the clothes. He hopes people leave thinking about the things that shaped them, the clothes they grew up seeing, the music they listened to, the places that still feel familiar. He wants Kill Joy Studios to stay a work in progress, "a journal that documents how I see the world," and he wants other people to build from their own lives instead of borrowing somebody else's. A young designer put the things that made him on a runway and made the case that anyone's list would do. Somebody else's mixtape is next.

An ode to embracing her own femininity, Queer Notes is the collection Yana Kalaw waited years to show. By Kobe Janer Plenty of Filipino kids learn early that there is a version of themselves the adults prefer. They work out which parts to keep quiet at family lunch, and they get good at it long before they know what they are doing. Yana Kalaw grew up a queer girl in a conservative Catholic world, caught between two sets of rules. There was pressure to seem straight so the adults would be comfortable, and then the pressure telling her she had to be more masculine to earn liking a girl. "I didn't have to be masculine, I didn't have to be 'passing,'" she tells BLNC. Queer Notes is what she built out of that. The ideas go back to fashion school, to a batch that lost its graduation show to the pandemic. She built it around four emotions, grief, anger, defiance, and becoming, and she tells BLNC the hard part was fitting all four into one short lineup. The words are written straight onto the clothes. Michelle Dee opened the show in a sheer nude look marked over and over with tibo, the Filipino insult once used to make masculine lesbians feel smaller, long since taken back, written here large enough to be proud of. Elsewhere Lesbyana runs across a sheer cropped top in the same loose handwriting, carried rather than dodged. Everything around those words refuses to be sad. Corsets lace up the front in peach and pink, black pieces are strung over with white thread that spreads like a web, and there are enormous faux fur hats in mint and pastel pink, veils, tulle, and skirts built for room. Queer and trans women walked it, which widens the story past one girlhood. It is avant-garde in the most inviting way, romantic and a little ridiculous, which is where her maximalism works best. The designer arrived here the long way too. She studied clothing technology at UP and worked as a stylist first, carrying that as an insecurity for years, convinced styling canceled out being a designer. She tells BLNC that letting herself be both is what set her free. "Femininity has no gender," she says, adding that a person does not have to be queer to understand it, that it is something felt from the inside that wants to come out. One word is left, and it is the one she chose herself. She hopes to build her legacy on being body positive and on embracing what she calls your hubadera-ness, from hubad, meaning naked, the word women here get called for showing skin. A girl who spent her childhood covering up wrote a slur across her opening look and named her whole future after the insult she likes best. She is not asking for tolerance or for a seat at the edge of the industry. She is building work where the words used against queer women become the material, where lace and boning read as survival rather than decoration, and where any girl who learned to shrink can see herself at full size. Some will find their own name in this collection. She made it for them, and made it beautiful on purpose.

In Sampaguita Queenpin, Jayanne Santos takes the Manila noir she was raised on and hands it to somebody it was never written for. By Kobe Janer There is a particular kind of Filipino nostalgia that lives inside a television set. The same shows every night, the volume too loud, the whole family in one room, and the kids on the floor taking it in without knowing any of it would stay. Jayanne Santos grew up on her parents' action films from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, and she still watches the remakes with them now. Manila after dark, tailored suits, street loyalties, sampaguita sellers at the church doors. "So I thought, why not make a female version," she tells BLNC. Sampaguita Queenpin, her collection for the label Lilah Roché, is that thought carried through. Both halves of the title carry their own history here. The sampaguita is the national flower, sold in thin strands outside churches and understood to mean purity and devotion. Asiong Salonga was a real Tondo gang leader who died young in 1951 and became a permanent figure of Philippine action cinema, most famously through Fernando Poe Jr. One is a girl holding flowers at the church door. The other runs the street outside it. Jayanne put them in the same body and let the collection travel from one to the other. The clothes carry both. A black blazer is worn as a dress, with a wide ivory lapel and shoulders cut sharp and square. A shorter version of the same jacket ends at the ribs, over high-waisted trousers pulled tight by drawstrings tipped in metal. Underneath is corsetry, stiff bodices that grip the waist and flare at the hip. One short dress has a single white sleeve falling past the hand. Elsewhere the tailoring loosens, like the black column dress cut open at the hip with panels hanging free. The look everyone remembers came in ivory, a long lean silhouette under a wide white hat, with a cascading garland of sampaguita held in both hands. The flower stands for purity here, offered on altars and to saints. She put it in the hands of a woman who had already taken power. The whole collection lives in the pull between clothes that hold their shape and clothes that let go of it. The designer arrived at tailoring the long way. She started the label in 2019, in her first year of college, and moved through hardcore denim, harajuku, and weave craft before finding her direction about three years ago. Tailoring is where she landed, and she is clear about why it matters. It is a male-dominated field, she tells BLNC, and women in fashion get boxed in as eye candy or as people who can only slap fabric together. "Women can be engineers and directors of clothes too," she says. The process itself was the surprise, she tells BLNC. She could not fully plan the looks, so she built as she went, thinking, drafting the pattern, then playing until it became something. What she wants remembered is not the story or the silhouettes but the part nobody sees. She finishes the insides of her garments with the same care as the outside, because the insides matter too. "It is my art and I am the artist of it. So look inside my clothes and see my passion just from there." Sampaguita Queenpin follows a girl from the church steps to the woman who runs the street, and the designer walked a version of the same road to get here. Jayanne grew up watching men carry those films. This time she wrote the part, directed it, and walked on as the star, then finished the inside of every garment where nobody would think to look.

The label's largest collection yet opens in full bloom and ends in dry earth, and Yong Davalos would rather talk about what is already here. By Kobe Janer The country has spent the last few years living inside its own weather. Storms arrive stronger and more often, El Niño dries out the fields, floods take the same neighborhoods twice, and the conversation moves on before anything is fixed. Fashion almost never says anything about it. Yong Studio said something. At 7 p.m. on Thursday, on the opening night of MNL Fashion Week 2026, the label showed its largest collection to date, built entirely around what the country stands to lose. It began in abundance. Saturated color, animal and nature prints, the natural world at full volume. Then the palette started to go. Beiges arrived, then taupes, then the dry earth tones of El Niño, until the final looks were nearly drained. "Earth has always been my greatest source of inspiration," designer Yong Davalos tells BLNC, describing the colors of a landscape, the texture of rocks, the movement of water. The collection came from thinking about what happens when all of that starts to disappear. "It's not just an environmental issue. It's a creative one too." Her house includes Yong Bridal, and Philippine fashion already has a global reputation for couture and bridal. Her argument is for everything else. She designs feminine ready-to-wear that flatters the body, made largely from deadstock, and she is direct about how her thinking shifted. She started out excited to make beautiful clothes. "Today, I think much more about why those clothes deserve to exist," she tells BLNC. The collection brought together womenswear, the return of menswear, and one-off runway pieces. Romantic silhouettes were set against weathered textures and rugged detailing, so a soft line would arrive carrying something roughened. Deadstock and upcycled fabrics ran through all of it, so every look began with something that already existed instead of asking the world for more. That idea is the heart of the collection, and it lands hard right now. "Fashion is often about asking, 'What's next?'" she tells BLNC. "But I think we should also ask, 'What do we already have?'" She means the planet, the materials, and the clothes already hanging in closets. In a market shaped by fast fashion, hauls, and the quiet shame of being photographed twice in the same thing, she says the opposite. "Repeating an outfit shouldn't be seen as a bad thing." A garment, she adds, only becomes more beautiful for the memories made in it. Getting there meant resisting the runway itself. A show pushes a designer toward drama, and she did not want the collection to turn into costume just because it was on a stage. She says the balance between "fantasy and wearability is what made this collection the most rewarding to create." What Yong Studio sent out on Thursday was never really about the clothes. It was a designer taking the one room where everyone is looking, the cameras, the front row, the few days of attention this industry gets in a year, and spending all of it on a forest nobody is filming. "I hope people leave with a greater appreciation for nature," she tells BLNC. Every look was in service of that, which makes it the rarest thing a collection can be. Not a statement about fashion, but about the world fashion is made from. Photos by: @no_name_ph Alvin Chua Kobe Janer is a lover of art in all its forms, literature, fashion, food, film, and paint. By day he is a corporate marketing slayer. By night he is an oil painter, bringing voice to the Filipino lives that go unseen. Website: https://evokethechaos.cc/ Email: itskobejaner@gmail.com

For his debut on the MNL Fashion Week runway, Nicolo Perez builds Flow State around three Greek myths and the question of how much wanting is too much. By Kobe Janer At 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nicolò opened MNL Fashion Week 2026 with a collection that begins in labor and ends in flight. It was the label's first time on this calendar, and the opening show sets a week's temperature. Flow State takes its name from psychology, though the term is only a label for something most people have felt. It is the part of working where the hours go missing. Perez tells BLNC the collection reflects his own relationship with work and ambition. After a few very good years came the pressure to keep topping himself, until he was asking "where the line is between healthy ambition and obsession." Sisyphus, Narcissus, and Icarus are usually met once, in a literature class, on the way to something else. Perez returns to them the way a working person returns to old advice, and finds all three describing his own week. Sisyphus rolls his boulder up the hill forever and watches it fall back each time, and the collection opens in his company, with relaxed tailoring, workwear, and oversized shorts finished in the curved hems and zigzag topstitching that have become the house signature. Nothing strains for attention. It looks like a craft practiced so often it no longer needs to announce itself. Narcissus leans over the water, sees himself, and cannot look away. In the middle of the show the clothes become that water. Sheer layers arrive, rippling shapes travel across the surfaces, and a denim jacket is cut into waves and stitched back together with sheer panels, so the garment keeps moving even when the model is still. Icarus takes to the air on wings of wax and falls into the sea, and the final looks lift accordingly. They are the lightest of the night, with birds appliquéd across sheer sets and fringe loosening from the hems like something undone by wind. Sequins, glitter, technical nylon, denim, and appliqué sit beside the airier fabrics, and sailor and resort references keep the mood sunlit. The collection also brings womenswear to a house built on menswear, and it arrives in the same clean language, less a departure than an opening of the door. That instinct for structure has a source. Perez studied psychology at Ateneo de Manila University on his way to medicine, and spent his real hours with a theater organization's costume team until one elective changed the plan. He founded the label in 2020 and still makes it in a studio in Rizal. His ambition for Filipino fashion is plainly stated. "We don't need to imitate what already exists elsewhere," he tells BLNC. He says the lesson of this collection was learning to simplify, and that the strongest ideas were the simplest. What stays is how kindly Flow State treats wanting. All three myths are warnings, and Nicolò declines to warn anybody. He lets the boulder be practice, the reflection be honest, the fall be worth the flight, and sends it out in clothes light enough for a hot Manila afternoon. Three days of designers followed him, each with a collection pulled from their own life, and the week never lost the pitch he set that first night. Photos by @mawstudiopmp Bio: Kobe Janer is a lover of art in all its forms, literature, fashion, food, film, and paint. By day he is a corporate marketing slayer. By night he is an oil painter, bringing voice to the Filipino lives that go unseen. Website: https://evokethechaos.cc/ Email: itskobejaner@gmail.com

The label that started as Filipino streetwear closes the festival with couture-inspired construction and a runway it describes as crazy, sexy, chic. Michele Dee walked as muse. TAGUIG CITY, PHILIPPINES — 06 September 2026 — Proudrace closed MNL Fashion Week 2026 at SMX Aura this evening with a collection built on draping, proportion and reconstruction, pushing the label into couture-inspired construction techniques new to the studio. “My fascination with garment construction started long before I understood fashion,” the designer said. “As a child, I would deconstruct and rebuild objects — fabric, paper, even clay — driven by curiosity about how things are made and transformed. That instinct for experimentation still anchors my practice.” The 9PM show closed a night that opened with HA.MÜ at 5PM, and closed the four-day festival. EXTENDING THE LIFE OF A GARMENT “For this collection, I focused on extending the life of garments through draping, proportion, and reconstruction,” the designer said. “I was drawn to how fabric naturally falls — curtain folds, incidental drapes, and everyday movement. These observations shaped fluid yet sculptural silhouettes. By combining unexpected prints, proportions, and familiar garments, we created pieces that challenge conventional dressing while remaining wearable.” “This collection is deeply rooted in my interest in experimenting with existing garments and adding extensions to it for extra draping or manipulating its proportions so it can be worn differently than how it is supposed to be worn,” the designer said. “Odd pairings of prints and silhouettes are also the driving force of this collection.” On the mood: “This season you can expect a crazy, sexy, chic with a bit of sense of humor in our presentation.” FROM STREETWEAR TO CRAFT Proudrace began as a streetwear label rooted in Filipino underground culture. “While that rebellious energy remains, our focus has expanded toward craftsmanship, heritage techniques, and everyday Filipino life,” the designer said. “Today, our identity is more defined and intentional,” they said. “We draw from ordinary moments: local communities, family traditions, friendships, and shared cultural references. Instead of looking outward, we now look inward, translating lived experiences into a contemporary fashion language.” “As the brand moves forward we've also explored heritage techniques and the cultural cues from growing up Filipino,” the designer said. “Our creative identity is stronger and the brand's language of reconstruction and experimental proportions can be seen clearly in this collection.” NEW TERRITORY “Experimentation is central to our process, and this season pushed us into unfamiliar territory,” the designer said. “We explored couture-inspired construction and draping techniques that were new to the studio. The process involved constant trial and refinement but those challenges led to some of the collection's most meaningful breakthroughs. It reaffirmed that growth happens when you step beyond what you already know and it's a direction we're excited to continue developing.” A FIRST FOR FILIPINO FASHION Proudrace’s collaboration with adidas marked the first partnership between the sportswear brand and a Filipino fashion label. “Our collaboration with adidas marked a milestone not just for Proudrace but as the first Filipino fashion label to work with the brand,” the designer said. “It reinforced that Filipino creativity belongs in the global conversation.” On what comes after legacy: “Rather than focusing on legacy, I think about possibility. If our journey helps even one young creative believe that a Filipino brand can exist globally without losing its identity, then that already means something. We hope to keep building international collaborations while staying rooted in our culture, proving that authenticity can travel far beyond where it begins.” WHAT HE HOPES IT LEAVES BEHIND “I hope it encourages people to embrace individuality without hesitation,” the designer said. “Personal style is one of the most direct forms of self-expression, and Filipino identity deserves to be seen with confidence on a global stage.” “More importantly, I hope it reinforces pride in where we come from,” he said. “Our roots and shared experiences are not limitations but foundations for innovation. The deeper we understand them, the stronger and more honest our creative voice becomes.” AT THE SHOW Muse for the Proudrace show: Michele Dee Seen at the Proudrace show: Mimiyuuuh · Charlie Fleming · BJ Pascual · Jolina Magdangal · Ba Tung · Cissylia · Helen Hiu · Linh Chau Thai actor Boss Chaikamon Sermsongwittaya is in Manila to attend MNL Fashion Week 2026, joining the celebration of Filipino fashion and creativity across the festival’s four nights. MNL Fashion Week 2026 concluded this evening at SMX Aura after four nights of runway

The label opened Day Three with a show built around people moving in and out of a hotel, a collection about diversity, individuality and everyday life shown a little more elevated. Skusta Clee and Flow G performed. TAGUIG CITY, PHILIPPINES — 05 September 2026 — Charlotte Folk opened the third night of MNL Fashion Week 2026 at SMX Aura this evening with a runway staged as a hotel, following different individuals moving in and out of its doors. “We’re really going all out with the everyday theme,” the designer said. “The runway will follow different individuals moving in and out of a hotel, giving a glimpse into the different personalities, lifestyles, and ways people wear Charlotte Folk. It’s a fun way of showing that there isn’t just one way to wear CF or one version of the person who wears it.” The 7PM show opened the festival’s third day, ahead of ANTONINA at 9PM. Skusta Clee and Flow G performed. EVERY VERSION OF YOURSELF The show’s premise, in the designer’s words, is “about embracing every version of yourself and finding the beauty and expressiveness in the mundane. We wanted the show to feel familiar and relatable while still presenting everyday life in a more elevated and expressive way.” The collection itself marks a departure. “Our upcoming collection is very different from our current ones,” the designer said ahead of the show. “It’s something we’ve always wanted to do at Charlotte Folk, so we’re really excited to finally bring it to life.” Its starting point was accumulated rather than singular. “Charlotte Folk has always been built on the idea of creating pieces for everyone, everywhere. This collection was inspired by the people I’ve met, the places I’ve traveled to, and the different lifestyles I’ve experienced along the way. We wanted to create a collection that reflects diversity, movement, and individuality — showing that no matter who you are or where you’re from, there’s a place for you in Charlotte Folk.” “This collection celebrates diversity and individuality,” the designer added. “It’s inspired by our travels, the people we’ve met, Filipino artists, local culture, and even our tropical weather. We wanted to create pieces that feel effortless, versatile, and relatable while reflecting the many stories and perspectives that shape Charlotte Folk.” ELEVATED EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS The label’s creative identity has been rooted from the start in elevated everyday essentials, but the designer describes it as having sharpened over time. “We draw inspiration from Filipino culture in subtle ways - through local music, artists, the tropical climate, and the way people naturally express themselves through fashion. Over time, we’ve become more confident in creating pieces that are functional, timeless, and distinctly Charlotte Folk while still celebrating our local perspective.” Asked which piece best represents the brand, the answer is the plainest one on the rail. “If I had to choose one, it would be our basic tee. It’s simple, timeless, and versatile, everything we believe great everyday clothing should be. It’s designed to be styled differently by every person who wears it, and that’s what Charlotte Folk is all about.” The brand’s direction is set in dialogue with the people wearing it. “We take a lot of inspiration from the people around us and the community we’ve built. We listen to what they want, observe how they wear our pieces, and turn those ideas into collections that feel authentic to Charlotte Folk.” FROM A BEDROOM TO A COMMUNITY “I started doing everything from my room, wearing multiple hats every single day,” the designer said of the label’s early years. “Today, we have a growing team that’s just as passionate about the brand as I am. Seeing Charlotte Folk grow into a community rather than just a clothing brand is something I’m incredibly proud of.” “I’ve learned that consistency matters more than perfection,” she said. “Building a brand comes with challenges, but I’ve never seen myself giving up on this dream. I also believe in surrounding myself with passionate and driven people who share the same vision. What motivates me the most is seeing people wear Charlotte Folk in their own way and make it part of their everyday lives.” “I see myself as someone who never gave up on a childhood dream. More than being a designer, I see myself as part of a community that encourages people to express themselves confidently through fashion. If our pieces help someone feel more comfortable being themselves, then I feel like I’ve done my job.” WHAT SHE HOPES IT LEAVES BEHIND “More than anything, I hope people feel included,” the designer said. “Charlotte Folk has always been about building a genuine community, and we love bringing our audience into our creative journey by sharing the process behind every collection. I hope this collection encourages people to embrace their own style with confidence and reminds them that fashion should feel personal, expressive, and accessible to everyone.” “I hope Charlotte Folk encourages people to see fashion as a form of self-expression rather than something defined by trends,” she added. “If our brand can inspire the next generation to create authentically, embrace inclusivity, and build communities through fashion, then that’s the legacy we’d be proud to leave.” Charlotte Folk has previously shown at Bangkok and New York Fashion Week. “More than expanding internationally, I hope we can help bring Filipino creativity to the global stage and see more people from different cultures make Charlotte Folk their own.” Following MNL FASHION WEEK, the label moves on to its next collection and campaign, and to further experiences for its community of Urban Muses. AT THE SHOW Muses for the Charlotte Folk show: Lookmhee · Sonya Performing: Skusta Clee · Flow G Seen at the Charlotte Folk show: Mavi Legaspi · Toptap · Minlee · Helen Hiu · Cissylia · Linh Chau · Ba Tung Thai actor Boss Chaikamon Sermsongwittaya is in Manila to attend MNL FASHION WEEK 2026, joining the celebration of Filipino fashion and creativity across the festival’s four nights. MNL FASHION WEEK 2026 concludes at SMX Aura on 06 September.

From Chicago to Manila, PENSHOPPE Designer Lab’s first collaboration turns Filipino identity into a contemporary streetwear conversation. Filipino identity has never belonged to just one place. It travels with us, changes with its surroundings, and finds new ways to speak. In streetwear, that conversation becomes even more personal. This October, PENSHOPPE opens a new chapter with PENSHOPPE Designer Lab: ABAKADA, a 23-piece limited-edition collaboration with Chicago-based Filipino streetwear label ABAKADA. The partnership marks the debut of PENSHOPPE Designer Lab, a new creative platform built around collaborations with distinct creative voices and fresh perspectives in fashion. Founded in Chicago in 2018 by Arvin Boyon and Calvin Calma, ABAKADA has developed a streetwear language deeply connected to Filipino heritage, language, and cultural references. But rather than treating culture as something fixed in the past, the brand approaches Filipino identity through the reality of the Filipino-American experience: layered, evolving, and constantly moving between worlds. That perspective makes the collaboration feel particularly relevant. A New Language for Filipino Identity The collection brings together ABAKADA’s Filipino-rooted streetwear aesthetic and PENSHOPPE’s accessible approach to everyday fashion. Across 23 pieces, sporty silhouettes and contemporary streetwear influences are shaped by Filipino cultural references, creating a wardrobe that feels familiar without looking backward. There is something distinctly Filipino about that balance. For a generation growing up between cultures, identity is rarely expressed in a single visual language. It exists in the music we listen to, the words we use, the places we call home, and increasingly, in what we choose to wear. ABAKADA has built its identity around that idea. Its Chicago roots give the brand a different perspective on Filipino culture, one shaped by distance but still deeply connected to home. Bringing that perspective into a collaboration with PENSHOPPE creates an interesting exchange between two sides of the same cultural conversation. Chicago meets Manila. Diaspora meets home. Heritage meets streetwear. And somewhere between the two, a new expression emerges. Designer Lab, Opening the Door For PENSHOPPE, the collaboration is more than a collection. It introduces Designer Lab as a platform for experimentation and collaboration, allowing the 40-year-old Filipino fashion brand to work with creative voices that exist beyond its usual framework. Starting with ABAKADA feels intentional. Instead of looking outward for a collaboration built purely around global recognition, PENSHOPPE is looking toward a Filipino-founded label that has developed its own identity abroad. The result is a meeting of two different fashion perspectives connected by the same cultural foundation. It also reflects a larger movement in Filipino fashion. Filipino creativity no longer needs to be defined solely by what happens within the Philippines. Our designers, artists, musicians, and brands are building communities across cities and cultures, carrying Filipino references with them and transforming them along the way. ABAKADA represents that movement through streetwear. From Chicago to Manila The collection’s journey back to the Philippines is perhaps its most compelling detail. Select pieces will be available for an exclusive first look and pre-order at Purveyur Fair on September 12–13, ahead of the full launch in October. The complete collection will be available through the PENSHOPPE App and select PENSHOPPE stores nationwide. For ABAKADA, a brand born in Chicago from Filipino roots, the collaboration creates a direct connection back to the country that informs much of its identity. For PENSHOPPE, it signals what the next chapter could look like after four decades. And for Filipino streetwear, it is another reminder that the culture is not standing still. It is moving. From Manila to Chicago and back again, Filipino identity continues to evolve through the people who carry it, reinterpret it, and make it their own. With PENSHOPPE Designer Lab: ABAKADA, that story gets translated into 23 pieces of clothing, but the conversation behind them is much bigger. Filipino streetwear is no longer just looking for a place in the global conversation. It is already part of it.

WOOYOUNG, member of global K-pop group ATEEZ, has been named the first global ambassador of STUDIO TOMBOY, a fashion brand operated by Shinsegae Tomboy Co., Ltd. The partnership follows the successful campaign STUDIO TOMBOY launched with WOOYOUNG early this summer. Products featured by WOOYOUNG in the campaign sold out shortly after release, while his everyday styling, seen through airport appearances and personal social media, also drew significant attention. His individuality and personal style naturally aligned with STUDIO TOMBOY’s identity, leading to the next chapter of their partnership as global ambassador. The synergy between WOOYOUNG’s expressive style and STUDIO TOMBOY’s spirit of freedom, individuality, and originality is expected to bring fresh energy to the brand’s Fall/Winter season. His ambassador activities will begin with the 2026 Fall/Winter campaign, with campaign images and videos featuring WOOYOUNG set to be released sequentially from August 31st across STUDIO TOMBOY’s official online channels and retail stores in Korea and overseas. Through its partnership with WOOYOUNG, STUDIO TOMBOY aims to build on the continued growth of its menswear line while strengthening the brand’s presence in global markets. A representative from STUDIO TOMBOY said, "As K-fashion continues to gain attention from the world, this is an exciting opportunity to showcase STUDIO TOMBOY's heritage and distinctive design. Together with WOOYOUNG, we look forward to continuing the growth of our menswear line and expanding the brand’s presence in international markets." Meanwhile, ATEEZ has established a strong global presence through their powerful performances and commanding stage presence. The group recently achieved another major milestone with their 14th EP, GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5, led by the title track “BAD,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. About STUDIO TOMBOY Based on the heritage of K-fashion, STUDIO TOMBOY is a unisex fashion brand that proposes a distinct attitude and personal style, transcending both eras and boundaries. Driven by a free-spirited sensibility and continuous evolution, the brand shapes new styles and culture every season.