Filipina designer Bea Cruz swept awards at the recent prestigious 14th International Virtual Art Renewal Center (ARC) Salon Exhibition and the Fashion Week San Diego.
The first event, the ARC Salon Exhibition, was hosted by Sotheby’s New York, the first international auction house. In partnership with ARC, the largest realism art competition, they gathered thousands of contemporary artists from around the world.
The youngest among the participants was Cruz, a 22-year-old budding artist from Victorias City in Negros Occidental, who honed her creative talents under the Fashion Design and Merchandising Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
“Being selected to showcase for both the Sotheby’s New York exhibition and Fashion Week San Diego in itself was a huge deal for me as a starting designer,” she confessed.
It is the first time the occasion was simultaneously held and streamed online.
Cruz, together with the oil painting Lisa The Shield Maiden (2019) by American contemporary painter David Bowers, motivated her three-piece look, plus her muse Mexican model Andrea Rivera bagged the sought-after The Art & Beauty Behind Fashion Best Team award.
The second show was the prestigious Fall Runway of Fashion Week San Diego, the longest-running traditional affair of its kind that is independently owned and operated.
This competition debuted her 10-piece fall collection of sophisticated two-tone piña silk ensembles, where she earned the Top Designer award.
Entitled Vivirá (“will live” in Spanish), Cruz’s collection was composed of baro’t saya, panuelo and upcycled barongs, incorporated with the 1940s and 1950s circled skirts with contemporary touches.
“Vivirá is all about how fashion evolves and how cultural clothing will live beyond generations, and this is my modern take on it—living out Philippine traditional clothing to the present time,” she stated.
Cruz was not physically present at the event due to the ongoing pandemic. She opted to ship her garments from her studio to Manila, then all the way to San Diego. To represent her, she collaborated with and was assisted by two Filipino artists, Los Angeles-based earring designer Kaitlyn Cabrera and San Diego-based wardrobe coordinator Angel Tan.