The terno made modern and desirable in 2025

This year pushed the boundaries of creativity even further while preserving heritage by drawing inspiration from 20th century Philippine visual arts, resulting in some of the year’s most memorable designs, from bronze medalist Ram Silva’s pieces with tiered raffia fringes that recalled Fernando Amorsolo’s bucolic paintings and silver medalist Bryan Peralta’s 3-D printed cage sleeves with columns of Jose Joya geometrics to gold winner Peach Garde’s structured pieces devised from Leandro Locsin’s architectural marvels. The added bonus was that all the pieces were later exhibited at the National Museum, the better to peruse the artisanal details.

Filipino artisanship proved truly world-class in May when Paul Cabral showed his collection of impeccably crafted pieces using piña and other indigenous materials at the historic Philippine ambassador’s residence in Tokyo.

Down south, in June, Cebu had its own celebration with the Philippine Terno Gala done in collaboration with CCP, featuring the works of designers led by Cary Santiago who showed exquisite pieces with his signature couture details, while Joey Samson, as always, did wonders with tailoring and layering for some singular takes on the terno and barong. 

The same month, Davao would not be left behind as their tradition of Hijos de Davao to celebrate culture and heritage naturally showcased our national dress, with Dawn Zulueta in an immaculately elegant Inno Sotto and Denise Taojo-Kaur in a Dennis Lustico with joyous fringes of chiffon cascading from butterfly sleeves.

The SONA is always the place to see the latest creations of our designers but this one, held in July, was purposely lowkey so as not to appear tone deaf after all the calamities. What the gowns lacked in flamboyance, however, they made up for with impeccable cuts and draping like DOJ Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez’s terno by Jay Cerezo.

Ternocon made a sharp turn in October with a special edition called Palaro, held outdoors for the first time at the SM Mall of Asia football pitch and with the surprising reimagination of Filipiniana as athleisure, targeting the youth so as to broaden its reach even further. It proved a stroke of genius as never-before-seen iterations emerged, from Carl Jan Cruz’s unexpected juxtapositions like a swimsuit on a terno and sports shirts with the bell sleeves of a baro; to Jo Ann Bitagcol’s terno boleros with tennis shirt-collared camisas and bubble sayas.

In September, at Bench Fashion Week, Ternocon alumni showed how their alma mater prepared them for the big league as Jaggy Glarino showed a compelling, cutting-edge collection on Filipino identity and his personal journey of survival, grit and transformation while Bree Esplanada’s imagination was full-throttle as he finds beauty in the strange and the bizarre while executing perfectly crafted pieces using fabric printed with his own original illustrations. 

The Red Charity Gala in October, one of the most awaited fashion events of the year, featured Rhett Eala, whose refined aesthetic was manifested in sculptural forms, fluid movement, and handcrafted details like painstakingly assembled fringes, tassels, and floral appliques.

Come yearend, the pop-ups Bench x Katutubo at Bench Tower and the ArteFino fair at Rockwell were the places to shop for all the new takes on Filipiniana. At the former, Bench Fashion Week designers were represented, like Daryl Maat with his controversial Pad Paper embroidered barongs and Jo Ann Bitagcol’s easy pieces incorporating her heritage photographs. At the latter, Jor-El Espina, in collaboration with Patis Tesoro, brings her artisanship to the present generation with novel cuts and silhouettes.