Looking to the future of fashion

NINE students at the SoFA Design Institute’s Senior High School program showed in an exhibit what their future would be like. If one of them shoots to the top of the fashion industry, it may well be our future as well.

The exhibit, titled “METRO333,” was launched in the Palace Manila’s Clubhouse on June 20 and features the works of the nine graduating students of SoFA’s third senior high school class. Founded in 2007, the SoFA Design Institute is better known for its college programs in fashion or interior design, and their short courses in those programs.

“They were given just one prompt: to create a three-dimensional piece, and it’s up to you on how you’re going to manipulate the materials that we’ve already learned about,” said SoFA’s Senior High School principal, Angelique Castro, in an interview. “It’s (about) embracing themselves now, the good and the bad and everything, and how it can be used to celebrate their future.”

Icha Logaring showed an outfit with early 2000s references, showing his own “Babygirl” energy. Graffiti, plastic chains, and grayscaled portraits are juxtaposed beside the clothes as an accompanying piece. Maximhari Sales showed a sky-blue dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves, as well as a portrait draped with rainbow-colored strips of cloth. Nev dela Merced showed a stylized self-portrait with weapons and foil spectacles, while Senna Purugganan showed a jacket with many zippers recalling their journey with ADHD.

Summer Villaluz showed a blue outfit in lizard-textured material, while Bianca Torres showed an artwork depicting smoking, as well as a stylized old T-shirt. Chaitanya Labayog showed a sculpture with hair made of wire, while Christine Callahan’s artwork depicts her own struggle with her curly hair (and the self-esteem problems that come with it).

Carla Louise Peña’s outstanding work shows a figure emerging from a canvas, modeled in plaster, and accompanying outfits include a corset in black with a tulle skirt, as well as a futuristic white set.

Asked what the students can learn from SoFA that won’t be accessible anywhere else, Ms. Castro said, “It’s the very personalized approach. We have a lot of practicing artists as teachers. It allows each creative to have a foot in the real world. It’s not textbook-based.”

There are two tracks in their Senior High School program, though these two sometimes intersect: Arts and Design, as well as Accounting and Business Management. “We mix the creativity with the business side of things. Everyone has to pay their bills in the end,” she said.

One of the reasons for the educational reforms that led to the country’s K-12 program was to prepare students for employability right after graduating high school. In SoFA’s case, Ms. Castro said that the goal for their students is for them to create their own brand. “They can, and they already have,” she said.

The exhibit can be seen at the SoFA campus in Makati. — Joseph L. Garcia