LOS ANGELES — One thing that excites us when we attend fashion shows is discovering new exciting fresh talent. This we did experience when we attended the first Asia Pacific Fashion Week (APFW), which had its debut recently in Los Angeles.
We had no expectations when we were invited by Roger Oriel, CEO of One Global Management, the event organizer of the APFW during its launch at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Organized to raise public awareness of sustainability issues and an emphasis on ecological fashion, the APFW hopes to serve as a global platform for up-and-coming designers showcasing their cultural identity and unique voice in the fashion world. It hopes to bring these designers to the global market to celebrate the ethnic diversity of the Asia Pacific region through fashion.
“APFW promises to be among the highlights of the West Coast fashion season for many,” said Oriel.
Among the new fashion designers featured in the show is Lionell Christian Lanuzo, a young Filipino fashion designer based in Milan who unveiled his 2023 collection, including his impressive “Pearl of the Orient” collection.
Photo: Sujata Photography
For someone who was not formally trained in fashion design, Lanuzo showed promise and a bright future ahead.
“APFW is the perfect opportunity to show our collections to the public who come from all over the world,” said the charming and humble Lanuzo who hails from Pampanga.
From Los Angeles, the APFW proceeded to Las Vegas to bring the creations of the participating designers.
We were able to interview fashion designer Lanuzo by email. Below are excerpts from our interview.
Congratulations on your collection inspired by pearls. Can you please let us know where, when and how you got the inspiration to use pearls?
Thank you for supporting our show during the Asia Pacific Fashion Week. I am a proud Filipino designer who is based in Europe. Ever since I started designing, I really wanted my designs to showcase my Pinoy roots but in a very classy and elegant way.
During the Multi-Ethnic Designer competition back in 2018, I represented the Philippines and competed with ten different nationalities. Thankfully, I bagged the first place and one of my entry designs during the competition was a full wedding dress made with individually hand-cut mother of pearls (capiz). Eventually, my designs became my expression of my pride of being a Pinoy.
The use of pearls from the Philippines, shells, and mother of pearls were one of my personal choices in making my designs. One of my designs in the collection is made of more than 7,500 pearls representing the islands of the Philippines with the iconic butterfly sleeves of the Philippine national costume, the terno.
Another is my modern Filipino take from the famous painting which is the Birth of Venus. I made “The Venere” ensemble. Made of pearls with various sizes and shells, the design was meant to flaunt the rich waters that surround the Philippine Islands. If Japan is known as the “Land of the Rising Sun” or the US as the “Land of Dreams,” the Philippines is known as the “Pearl of the Orient Sea” and from that I developed my designs.
You are originally from Pampanga, Philippines but now you are based in Milan. How did you get to Milan and talk about your journey as an Asian fashion designer starting in Milan?
I was petitioned by my mom when I was 13 years old, and I flew back and forth in Italy just to renew my documents. Then when I was 17, I decided to stay and pursue my education in Milan.
Being an Asian designer in Europe is not a walk in the park especially since I did not study Fashion Design. Instead, I have a degree in Industrial Chemistry.
I started by making designs for pageants and I got noticed. Shortly after I was invited to represent the Philippines in a Multi-Ethnic Designer competition back in 2018 in Rome, I placed first among nine countries like Peru, Ukraine, Poland, Romania and even Italy. Most of the designers who participated have their own boutique shops.
There was this instance when my model and I participated in a competition. When our team entered the room together with the other designers, we decided to just prepare on a cottage outside the dressing room because they refused to make room for us. Even the hair of my model was done in the toilet because they told us that they are using the outlet where we can plug the curler of my hairdresser.
So, we fixed everything outside and I stretched out my “Cart d’Or” and my wedding dress made of capiz. And when the designers went out together with their models, minutes before the show started, everyone got curious of my designs. They eventually approached our team, became friendly and started to talk to us. This story I think would sum-up my humble beginnings as a self-taught designer in one of the world’s fashion capitals in an industry where they look down on you because you are Asian but also because you did not go through the process that they went through.
Photo: Noel Ty
What were the challenges you encountered when you were starting your career as a fashion designer?
Initially, I just wanted to express my art and just be free to do anything that I wanted.
Since I did not have any formal training in fashion, I did not know how to sew, the name of the fabrics, what stitch is needed, what cut and all sort of things since my study focused on Industrial Chemistry which focuses on understanding your raw materials in order to obtain a specific product.
That knowledge helped me a lot in the process of understanding how each fabric should be handled. Everything that I make is an experience, a learning process that gives me the possibility to evolve, be open to mistakes and apply those experiences to my next design. I would always look forward and think that my next creation will be my next masterpiece.
Another challenge I had to face was how to survive in this business and continue to preserve my own identity as a designer, distinct from the rest. I had to learn how to survive being told that I am not that good, that I will not make it, that I had to just do the usual stuff that I make, or that I am not a real designer.
At what point in your life did you decide to become a fashion designer and what or who inspired you to become one?
I started my journey as a designer in 2018 having my very first creative costume. For two years, I designed only as an expression of my craft. But eventually, it became much more serious. Now it has become an advocacy.
That is the point when I decided to become a fashion designer. During the first two years, I realized that the Filipinos have much more to offer to the world other than our work force or our people in the medical field, as domestic helpers, architects etc. I was able to meet a lot of very talented Filipino designers, models, hair and make-up artists who are really doing great in this field and at the same level as some well-known foreign artists in the business.
I was inspired by them, and I developed my own drive, my purpose of being a designer. I developed my passion to create designs that make use of our vast selection of our world class local materials such as our vast selection of indigenous weaves, our unlimited source of pearls and mother of pearls and I made use of our very iconic butterfly sleeves by making it modern, classy and fashionable. In addition, I was able to merge the terno of the north and the intricate beadworks of the south.
How did you get involved with Asia Pacific Fashion Week? Is this your first time to have a show in LA? What other cities have you showcased your collection?
I met Sir Concon Sinel during the Luxe Fashion tour that was held in Rome last 2019. I came from Milan to help Miss Genn Wenn Tuason (my best friend), the producer of the Luxe Fashion Italian edition, with the set-up and decorations for the venue. They saw my designs through my social media and then they invited me to participate in the show in the US. It was not my first time to be in the US since my sister lives with her family in Seattle. In Europe, I was able to showcase some of my designs like in Vienna, Bern, Zurich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Rome and also Milan.
Where do you get your pearls and where do you have your dresses/gowns done? What is the most difficult thing when working with pearls?
The real ones I source them from the Philippines then eventually I get them shipped to Milan when needed. The faux pearls, on the other hand, are much easier to obtain. Getting the right shape, size and shade will be one thing while the availability, on the other hand, is another.
Since pearls in Europe are much more expensive than sourcing them from the Philippines, in a way I am also helping my suppliers back in the Philippines with their livelihood. Meanwhile, during the process of making the designs, I usually find my bag filled with pearls all mixed up. I also end up finding pearls scattered all throughout my workplace.
Photo: Noel Ty
Have you been worn by a celebrity?
Given the chance I would love to make a design or let my designs be worn by a celebrity. But at the moment, I haven’t been able to have that chance. Hopefully, I would have that on my checklist too.
The show in LA is your first time to showcase your pearl collection. How come?
I would say that the full collection of “The Pearl of the Orient” was first showcased in LA and it was less than two years in the making. The last piece which is “The Venere” completed the whole collection. I initially made the design during our consecutive shows in Europe and thankfully, I finished it in time for the Asia Pacific Fashion Week in the US.
The Pearl Collection took more time than my usual designs. I wanted to highlight our culture and the richness of our seas through the use of pearls. Another piece in the collection, aptly called “Pearl of the Orient,” was made of 7,500 plus pearls consisting of eight different sizes of pearls. Seven thousand five hundred plus pearls represent the number of islands that represent the Philippines. And eight sizes of pearls for the eight rays of the Philippine flag. With the iconic sleeve of the Filipiniana terno, I mixed it with the Elizabethan collar to mix European and Filipino styles. Just the extent of time and labor to produce each pieces made this collection one of my most important collection, since it celebrates my passion as a designer and most especially my roots as a Pinoy.
You also had a show in Las Vegas. How was the reception of the Las Vegas crowd to your pearl collection? What other places are you showcasing your collection?
As an artist, a designer and a Pinoy, I want people who will be seeing my collection, to experience it. View every design differently and have a cultural awakening collectively.
During the Las Vegas fashion show, I had the chance to include our heritage in the show. I included the Pintados body tattoos from the tribes of Cebu and the Tobok Tobok marital painting of the Yakan tribe in the collection.
I wanted my collection to be not just a showcase of designs but more of a cultural awakening especially to the third generation of Pinoys that know little or worse nothing about our art and culture. They need to be proud of it just like any other native tribes around the globe. We too have something very distinct that we can be proud of.
And the reception was really amazing, and I think everyone got my message.
I am back here in Milan already and while I am writing this, I am on my way to Zurich for a Diversity Fashion Show. This October, we will be going to Madrid, then in Frankfurt and Bern this November at least at the moment.
Another thing to celebrate is that our Pintados photo got selected among thousands of photo entries around the globe and it will be part of the Iconic Fashion Exhibit that will be held on the 30th of September until the 2nd of October in Milan. It will be a huge event where international photographers and designers will be participating in the event and another proud moment for us Pinoys that our entry focusing on our heritage was among the selected few.
What are your future projects?
I am now preparing a collection to showcase another side of the Filipinos—the fun, and colorful one. I am finishing my sketches for my next collection “Fiestas de las Islas Filipinas” that will include 25 designs that celebrate different fiestas or pista in our country but done in a European perspective. This will be showcased as well in the next APFW in the US and in another country that celebrates fun, dance and colors pretty much like the Philippines.
—MGP, GMA News
