Stylists talk Pantone colors and Davao fashion designers

Inside Abreeza Mall in Davao City recently sat two Manila fashion stylists who were at the “SCANDI-LOUS: A Fashion Mixer,” a forum that brought together designs from up-and-coming Davao designers and this year’s Pantone color of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity.

Stylists Pam Quiñones (center) and Philippa Andren talk fashion. PHOTOS: Mac Macapendeg

The guests were celebrity stylist and L’Officiel editor-in-chief Pam Quiñones, dressed in a rose quartz mesh shirt, white midi-skirt, and white heels; and Philippa Andren, the magazine’s fashion assistant, who was dressed in a casual black sleeveless top and denim jeans.

"They just need another color to balance it off...for a proper palette [or a] strong palette for next year," Quiñones said about Pantone's choice to blend two colors for its color of the year.

We are proud to announce the Pantone #ColoroftheYear for 2016 is #RoseQuartz & #Serenity! https://t.co/PJIADN59DX pic.twitter.com/q7vY0hOyH3

— PANTONE (@pantone) December 3, 2015

Facing the stage where the stylists were seated was a display of clothes designed by a group of fashion designers known as the Davao Elite Fashion Group. The stylists chose from the designers' looks.

They pointed out one of the designs, a four-piece Scandinavian-inspired look in monochromatic blush pink by Xioti Chu: a sheer trench coat with pink neoprene cuffs, a nude tank top, a bolero jacket and a pencil skirt in textured, blush-colored fabric—all made from repurposed scrab fabric, it turned out.

According to Philippa, Xioti’s design would likely make it on their magazine’s cover because its layering and texture would look great in a photograph.

“I didn’t expect it,” said Xioti of the assessment. “I always bear in my mind that I work with concept and I made the garment [in just] a day. I was advised to create out of Scandinavian street wear with the color of the year.”

Xioti said that when designing, he looks for the fabric first. With these looks, though, he used “mga tagpi-tagping tela na nagamit ko sa previous client because I had no time to buy, due to short notice,” the designer confessed.

Looks from Davao designers reflect the 2016 color of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity.

Xioti, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of the Philippines, works as a fashion design instructor at Philippine Women’s College of Davao. He is also the designer and owner of Famo Xiete, a fashion house in Davao City downtown.

“I always make sure that my works will always speak for me, without me saying it’s my work,” he said.

Another “personal choice” for Philippa was Emi Englis’ blush-pink minimalist dress with subtle draping. She commended the design for its simplicity, stating “the simpler the better.”

“I have always believed in that tenet also,” said Emi. “My mantra in fact is 'less is more.' I would like to believe that as I age, my designs evoke focus and more space for reflection.”

Emi said that his dress being chosen as a personal favorite by one of the stylists was inspiring. “[I]t somehow validated the creative synergy between my design thought and that of the millennial perspective,” he said.

The Davao Elite Fashion Group's week-long presentation was held late last month. — BM, GMA News