What we will wear in 2024

With everything back to normal, fashion seems to have a reality check for 2024. Practicality and utility may not be the usual pegs for designers, but functional details and practical cuts can be found in many collections. It’s no wonder that there’s nostalgia for ’90s minimalism —and a reflex for the sensible, like hardworking denim — during these fraught and divisive times. After the revenge shopping right after the pandemic, people are turning to quiet luxury, quality pieces that can last for more than one season. Craft is more important than ever, a luxury we have in abundance in the Philippines with handwoven fabrics and artisanal crafts like embroidery to embellish ternos and couture gowns.

With global warming raising temperatures to unheard-of highs, the shortest shorts and the sheerest dresses and skirts are our trustworthy friends; and so are mesh, eyelet, lace and slashes. We still want some frills in our lives, of course: fringed flapper looks, metallics and roses will jazz things up. After all we’ve been through, there’s a lot to celebrate, after all, and we should dress accordingly.

With the wealth of artisans in the country, we are spoiled for the handmade, from couture techniques used by our favorite designers to handwoven and hand-embroidered indigenous fabrics. Lulu Tan Gan’s SS24 collection shown at Bench Fashion Week employed novel ways of showcasing piña, like handblocked gold prints in easy, contemporary silhouettes.

At the same fashion series, Abdul Gaffar, Ternocon 2 Chief Mentor’s Medal winner, accented his pieces with gongs and okir swirls in brass using repoussé techniques, giving his pieces a distinct touch of his native Mindanao.

Ternocon 3 finalist Cheetah Rivera, on the other hand, has been experimenting in her atelier with Jackson Pollock-inspired paint splashes on crisp, white separates.

At Bottega Veneta and Diesel, craft is used to create illusory effects: fringed gowns looking like feathers but actually made of leather in the former and peeled-paint looks using shredded deadstock denim and jersey at the latter.

It’s the year of the roses and our designers have geared up for it, from Cary Santiago’s exquisitely sculptured blooms