by Kenneth K. Ong
Let’s face it, Davao City is not the place to be when it comes to fashion. It seems that there is currently a vacuum of creativity and fresh concepts that will excite the soul and turn heads. It is a good thing then that SM City Davao is stepping up to the plate to present fresh styles and fashion concepts thanks to its annual Fashion Edge.
Now on its fourth year, SM Davao’s Fashion Edge takes participating retail brands Mags, Folded and Hung, Arrow, Espada, Mental, Maldita, Bayo, Shapes, Karimadon, Levi’s, Plains and Prints, SM Departmen Store’s Baleno and Mango and styles them up with the participation of students from the consortium program of the Philippine Women’s College of Davao and the Fashion Institute of Design and the Arts.
Davao’s designer mentors Aztec Barba with his Morrocan chic dresses and jumpsuits, Dodjie Batu with his strong yet feminine lines, Popoy Barba with his 80’s glam rock dresses, Emi Englis with clean flowing gowns and Edgar Buyan with his tailored military pieces added to the cacophony of colors that were a marked departure from past Fashion Edge iterations. I just wish the designers stayed on after the show to talk about the inspiration and thought processes behind their collections.
I also wish there would be fresh new designers in the mix to really showcase the creativity of Davao’s young blood since the students this year were only allowed to style as of now. Only time will tell, but from what I am seeing from the young talent pool and their endless fountain of fresh ideas, inspirations and aspirations, I feel it will be soon.
