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This Pinoy fashion designer is bringing terno back, but with a modern twist
Marc Carcillar is on a mission to bring the Philippine terno in the modern fashion scene.
The conceptual fashion designer has recently launched his brand, MARCOpilipino, which touts easy to wear Philippine terno tops that can easily be paired with pants and skirts.
"Terno is a representation of how Filipinos evolve through time," Marc told GMA News Online.
"If you check Fashionable Filipinas, a book written by Sir Mark Higgins and Sir Gino Gonzales, you will see how the national dress changed, from the Spanish era up to the modern age," he added.
Marc's vision stemmed from his pride over the national dress, and his hope to make others love it, too — especially in the modern world where wearing ternos is limited to special events like the State of the National Address and Buwan ng Wika.
But given the terno's significance in the country's history and culture, Marc admitted to hesitating at first.
"There is a bit of hesitation at first, especially hearing unintentional negative comments and criticisms, but I took it as a challenge. Make it as my motivation. I know my core. I am a Filipino. I am resilient and creative," he said.
He acknowledged that ternos may never be part of a woman's daily wardrobe ever again, because it would be impractical given how much the world has changed since the 1960's.
That said, he works to make his designs clean and breathable, so that they will be comfortable to wear.
Currently, he's using breathable tweed fabric and linen to create them, but he is planning to soon incorporate Philippine textiles to solidify his advocacy.
But even as he puts his own spin on the Philippine terno, Marc is careful to keep the original terno design intact.
"I want to innovate but I want to keep the tradition. I want to create a piece that when people see it, they will recognize immediately that it is a Philippine Terno," he said.
Marc's terno tops are made to order, the prices currently ranging from P4,000 to P5,000.
Interested parties may simply drop a message at MARCOpilipino's Instagram account @marcopilipino.
—JCB, GMA News
