Milan-based fashion designer showcases Filipino artisanship

A Milan-based designer had been chosen to participate in a fashion show highlighting Filipino artisanship through fashion and food.

“We were chosen by the Likha Management CH to participate in the Likhang Pinay Food and Fashion Show through another designer based in Switzerland, the ‘PamPinay’ owned by Pamela Gotangco Hupp and Christian Belaro," 34-year-old designer Lionell Christian Lanuzo said.

"We’ve done a couple of fashion shows around Europe and we were invited to showcase our designs for the second time in Switzerland,” shared Lanuzo, referring to himself and his all-Filipino team, in an interview via Messenger on November 27.

All photos courtesy of Lionell Christian Lanuzo

The show featured the "Golden Treasures: A Historical Docu-Fashion Exhibit" that was based on the Boxer Codex and the Ginto Collection of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“I really tried my best to paint the models of the pintados and the tribes as intricately as possible. The body paintings of the six models that will just be walking for barely ten minutes must have taken me seven to eight hours to do but the models—most of them raised abroad or half-Pinoys—would always be in awe of our culture and heritage. It is more of an awakening of our pride, taking awareness of our roots and what sets us apart from others into another level,” he added.

Lanuzo, who owns the Italian-based brand “LCL” together with German Ramonchito Picar, has also been commissioned for the "Philippine Fashion Invasion" in Vienna, Austria and the "Fernweh Festival" in Bern, Switzerland on September 11 and October 30, respectively.

“I never expected to have these shows especially during the pandemic but the organizers of each show followed protocols on the admission of guests. Both the ‘Philippine Fashion Invasion’ (organized by the ENFID Vienna, Austria) and the ‘Fernweh Festival' (organized by the Philippine Embassy in Bern, Switzerland) were very successful and they will not be successful without the help of each and every one who supported and participated in the events. The main key I guess is the bayanihan spirit of every Pinoy that is still alive in all Pinoys here abroad. I was only part of a whole.” —LBG, GMA News