25 Silver Stars
September 2010
September is Silver: 25 Years of ANP
• • • • • When the invite from the Associated Negros Producers (ANP) came by mail for their 25th Trade Fair [»] to be held from 8th-12th September, I was naturally honoured and excited to be part of it. The feeling is nothing unlike being invited to a dear friend’s successful event (and I DO have several dear friends in the organisation)—a birthday or an anniversary or a victory party—commemorating years of hard work that have paid off beautifully.
In my last visit [»] to Bacolod to give a follow-up talk on design, the ANP was full-steam ahead in the production of their commemorative coffee table book, the Silver Tiangge [»]. I had the honour of being asked to write a chapter dedicated to vines and ropes made from natural material (such as abaca, pandan, rattan), which has been a staple for the products they create. They have indeed come a long way, and are all unafraid of experimenting with what they have.
detail from a woven charger c/o Anaware Ventures
K [»] did a chapter on wood and lamination as well. In it she featured products and techniques involving buri, hardwood, and the common applications associated with these. During our visit, we had the opportunity to get to know the very down-to-earth, very dynamic minds behind these companies, who, mostly women, propelled the flagging spirits of the Negrense to look at another source of income besides the sugar industry. Which is not, by itself, an easy task; it’s not so different as rehabilitating a long-time practitioner of a sport and reintroducing her to a different activity far removed from what she was already used to. There is a physical as well as mental and emotional adjustment that has to go with that!
Ina Gaston’s buri-wrapped lamps in their elegant entanglement.
Great names contributed to the making of the book, such as the legendary Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil (who was represented in the ceremonies), who did a wonderful foreword to set the tone of this historical publication. A major source of relief and pride for the endeavour was the fact that the whole project, from inception to the launching, spanned only five months. Early in the year, the ANP ladies came together and thought about making the 25th a bit more special—as ladies are wont to do in these special events—by marking it with a coffee table book detailing the history of ANP, and by extension, Negros.
A page from the wonderfully laid-out story of success.
Their unified sense of self as a people breaking into a world market is one very golden, very beautiful result of the sugar crash that threatened the region’s very survival. Proof, as they say, that caterpillars become butterflies one day, and very beautiful butterflies at that! When I had the honour of going onstage to represent the numerous other designers and professionals who have worked closely with the ANP over the years, and light the parol symbolic of that contribution, I could not help but feel humbled with the realisation that truly, every contribution creates a whole.
The 25 lights emphasized Negros’s movement from a ‘Dark Age’ to a steadily glowing one.
• • • • • Now the event was to be formal/ semi-formal cocktails in suit and Filipiñana, aptly too, considering the historical content of the affair. There is a timeless elegance to be had in retrospective silhouettes, such as the “Imelda” stiff, butterfly sleeves, the familiar but graceful ease of the baro’t saya. Formal Filipiñana has always been associated with the sombre piña threads of the barong (traditionally for men), and the intricately embroidered lace for the women’s Maria Clara.
The full-length Maria Clara (named after a tragic heroine of Rizal’s book [»]) evokes elegant grace.
The “Imelda” butterfly sleeves work well with an art nouveau decorative floor-length skirt. It’s so-nicknamed because The Lady of 3000 Shoes was often wearing them in her infamous events.
I’m glad to be in an era where young fashion designers not only are moved by the need to innovate timeless tradition, but also tip hats to a more patriotic passion. There were classic silhouettes in the party, sure, but with very modern touches such as sharper colours (aubergines and teal blues in gradient hues and different fabric textures).
Something shiny, something chic: a femme barong with a contemporary cut. This one is paired with trousers. Photo c/o MyBarong [»]
On our end, we had to take several things into consideration. Traveling on a hand-carry suitcase limits the kinds of clothes one can bring for the trip, and a gown that needs to be carefully handled is one of those. What we decided to do was to improvise in the spirit of fusing the chic and modern approach to the piña-and-barong look. Over semi-formal cocktail dresses—mine in my favourite brown-and-cream hues, and K in her signature black—we pulled the all-time formal femme cut of the Barong Tagalog: mine in a longer, svelte silhouette with a V-shaped neckline and genuine pearl clasps, and K with a nicely tailored tuxedo cut.
Me and Sr. Luz, whose jolly presence made my visit extra heartwarming.
• • • • • Cebu neXt is due for March 2011 next year, and as early as now, ideas are beginning to fly. If there’s anything I’ve learned and loved, if there’s anything I wish we could learn from our Negrense cousins, is the wholehearted, overarching spirit of community, that puts before all else the success of the whole. If we acquired this spirit and put it to good use as a country, who’s to say the next decade would not see for us a steady, stellar era?
