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Francis Libiran shares more details about the barong Tagalog Darren Criss wore for his New Orleans wedding
Los Angeles — The Golden Boy, Darren Criss, 32, married longtime girlfriend, producer-director-musician, Mia Swier, 33, in New Orleans last February 16, 2019.
The pair has been dating for the past seven and a half years, with Darren announcing their engagement in January 2018.
Darren, who recently broke barriers as the first Filipino-American to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television — for his performance as the serial killer Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s hit “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” — also won the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for the same role.
When Darren won the Golden Globe, he thanked his then fiancée, “for your undying patience and love that was waiting for me when I got home.”
Of his engagement to Mia, he told us, “Well, we've been together for a long time and I think, just like a lot of great relationships we were friends first and we've been through everything together and that only fortifies the relationship more. It’s not without its ups and downs, for sure, but such is life, such as love and we've had sort of a wonderful partnership these past many years it was about time.”
According to Darren, they decided to get married in New Orleans because, it “holds a special place in our lives. It’s full of fond memories from a lot of time spent there over the years. It encapsulates our collective personality: a combination of hedonism and elegance.
"It’s a unique, colorful town full of celebration and music. Also, it’s equidistant from our home cities of Los Angeles and New York, where most of our guests were coming from. Suffice it to say, they don’t do things in New Orleans the way they do in other parts of the world—and we wanted to be sure our wedding was unlike anything our guests had experienced before.”
During the wedding, Darren dressed in an off-white Giorgio Armani and Mia in a strapless Vera Wang wedding gown.
At the wedding reception, Darren changed into a custom-made Francis Libiran Barong Tagalog while Mia slipped into a mini white Vera Wang dress with a gold accent at the center of the dress.
In the photos taken by Katie Edwards for Vogue magazine in their February 21, 2019 issue, pictures show Darren rocking and rolling with his new bride Mia while Darren was wearing a Barong Tagalog by fashion designer Francis Libiran.
Speaking to Hollywood Insider, fashion designer Francis Libiran shared that on January 19, Darren's fashion stylist Ashley Weston contacted his business partner ARsi Baltazar “asking if we can create a modern design of the Barong Tagalog for Darren’s wedding. Ashley Weston is an incredible Hollywood fashion stylist who is responsible for all the amazing looks of Darren in all the awards shows where he won Best Actor!
“We were ecstatic upon hearing this, considering that we had just met him and partied with him at the Golden Globe Awards last January 6 in Hollywood."
According to Francis, “Darren and his stylist were very hands on. We were communicating on every detail up to the fitting. They simply wanted us to create an amazing design of the Barong Tagalog. I was thinking that it would be really nice for Darren to wear a traditional button-down Barong embroidered with Art Deco-patterned threadwork — a Francis Libiran signature design. We sent several design options and he chose two."
During the February 5-fitting, Darren couldn't decide which of the two he wanted to wear, so he "told us that he will just choose one on his wedding day."
Francis shares that the barong was made of “pure hand-loomed Piña fabric flown in from Cebu. We intricately embroidered the fabric with my signature Art Deco embroidery. The design of the embroidery is inspired by the famous tattoo patterns of the indigenous people of Cebu called Pintados.
“Seeing Darren Criss wear my design makes me extremely happy and proud to be Filipino. What better way to promote the Philippines but through the Barong Tagalog, and worn by a multi-awarded Hollywood star, who happens to be half Pinoy! How awesome is that!" Francis exclaimed.
"The entire process was smooth and I am so honored to have the privilege to be part of his very special day. What makes it even more special is that he chose to pay homage to his Filipino roots by wearing our national dress on his wedding day. This, for me is what makes Filipinos so amazing!!!”
In the Vogue feature, there was also a photo of Darren, in his intricately embroidered designed custom-made Barong Tagalog, sweetly dancing with his Cebuana mom, Cerina Bru, whom Darren described in his Golden Globe speech as “a firecracker Filipina woman from Cebu who dreamed of coming to this country and getting to be invited to cool parties like this.”
He added, “So, mom, I know you’re watching this. You are hugely responsible for most of the good things in my life. I love you dearly. I dedicate this to you. This is totally awesome.”
He shouted to the world that “being Filipino is one of my favorite things about me. I feel like I have been given a superhero cape and I am glad to step up to that plate. It’s a great privilege – and I am proud to be part of that.” — LA, GMA News
