After a retail slump caused by the pandemic, lifestyle behemoth Bench is ready for the holiday shopping binge. Back with a vengeance, Bench Fashion Week brandished some of its labels such as Cotton On (heavily influenced by the looks and fashions of teen-angst drama Euphoria) and Urban Revivo (which will entice the young ladies-who-lunch, Emily in Paris fans, and preppy boys).
Bench also tapped its Bench Design Awards winners to showcase their talents during Day 1 on Friday, September 30. Jenni Contreras, one of the winners in 2017, is unleashing a collaboration with Human while 2019 co-winner Antonina Abad Amoncio unveiled her moody, all-black sexy and severe “Anino” expositions.
Another BDA alumnus, Russel Villafuerte, presented a sustainable, ethical and guilt-free collection for his label StrongVillage. Almost half of the pieces he showed were made from his own clothes, donations and thrift shops, and even his designs that didn’t sell he reworked.
“The clothes are basic stuff that are easy to pair up and source materials for. [Doing this collection] is not really a challenge per se, although the process of upcycling doubles the time than making a [regular collection]. That’s because I aim for zero waste. Di ko lang basta-basta kina-cut ang material, tinatastas ko isa-isa, pina-flatten, pattern it again, etcetera, so mas mahaba ang process.”
On Day 2: October 1, acclaimed young designer Martin Bautista celebrated his 15 glorious years in the business. Modern, understated and romantic, his exuberant collection played with athleisure undertones, slightly exaggerated silhouettes, amplified draping textures “with unusual fabrications that have been his signatures of late.”
Lucy Torres-Gomez, one of the country’s all-time most stylish, collaborated again with Kashieca for a pragmatic collection fit for power moves in Congress or frolicking in exotic Ormoc. In designing the 2022 collection, her mindset was on clothing pieces she loves that she keeps going back to.
Lucy took care of the design aspect. The Kashieca team sent her swatches of the actual fabrics and then she chose the ones she wanted for the 17 looks that went down the runway at The Playground of Bench Tower at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.
“[The new Kashieca collection] is very me. I also veer toward the classics. Like when I buy something, I buy it if I know that I can wear it many, many times. I’m sentimental that way. When I see a dress, I just don’t see it as a dress. I see it as the dress that I wore when I went to dinner with a [loved one]. I remember moments.”
At city hall or in Congress, Lucy won’t wear any of the sleeveless dresses or those with low necklines from the collection. “If I do wear something like that, I always have a cardigan with me that I would throw over. I’m very mindful of the dress code especially at work,” she assures.
Like Kate Middleton, Lucy doesn’t mind wearing a dress again. “When you buy something, it should be with repeating in mind,” the fashionably astute politician and mom says. “Sayang naman ang pera. Hindi siguro maganda if ayaw mo na suotin ulit or nagunaw na.”
Self-assured and self-confident, Lucy straddles showbiz and politics with seeming ease and elegance.
“I realized that through the years, I really just go back to certain things. Like I already know what my personal style is,” muses the captivating Ormoc mayor. “These are like things from my closet that I’m sharing with everyone else now. There’s nothing in the collection that I would not wear.”