ON the evening of November 28 last year, fashion luminaries and enthusiasts in the country gathered together to witness the comeback of the MEGA Young Designers Competition, the pioneering Filipino fashion competition presented by MEGA.
A celebration of the talent of emerging designers, the competition sets the stage for the future of Filipino fashion by showcasing endless creativity and innovation in the fashion industry.
From over seventy aspiring designers all over the country, only six contenders were selected to participate in the grand finale showdown, which took place last May 6 Monday.
Held at the Podium Hall in Makati, the competition concluded with young fashion designers Renz Reyes, Dino Bancoro, Sandro Dela Peña, Vic Fajatin, Prince Padilla, and Akio Barreiro unleashing their masterpiece collections on a runway.
Reyes finds inspiration in the mundane occurrences within the corners of Manila and turns them into extraordinary pieces with his collection called “Archtrivial,” redefining the conventions in fashion.
Bancoro pays homage to drag culture and camp fashion with “Eleganza Extravaganza,” while Barreiro’s collection is heavily inspired by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones’s “Love and the Pilgrim.”
Meanwhile, Fajatin explores the themes of self-confidence and self-love in “Framing Bodies.” Padilla, on the other hand, gives a new identity to women’s fashion with “Signal.”
Dela Pena draws inspiration from the 2022 film The Whale, boasting his storytelling prowess in “The Walk” collection.
The judging panel is comprised of a set of fashion icons in the country, including Peewee Reyes-Isidro, Heart Evangelista, Patrick Ty, Joey Samson, Jo Ann Bitagcol, Jojie Lloren, Amina Aranaz-Alunan, Carissa Cruz Evangelista, and John Lozano.
MEGA YDC 2024 Winner
For this year’s competition, Prince Padilla was hailed the grand winner with his obra maestra, “Signal.”
Drawing inspiration from his early exposure to the vibrant fashion scene of Manchester and his educational background in Fine Arts in London, Padilla embraced fashion as a means for new expressions, exploring further its transformative power.
In the “Signal” collection, the young fashion designer seeks to defy conventional contemporary fashion by interlacing unique techniques and perspectives in his craft.
Padilla received a grand prize of one million pesos from the Security Bank. Meanwhile, his winning collection will be made available for purchase at Sari Sari Shopping’s official website.
The MEGA Young Designers Competition has been recognized as a vital platform in the Filipino fashion industry. Fashion designers Rajo Laurel, Santi Obcena, and Chris Diaz are some of the previous contenders and victors of the competition.
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