The young fashion designer presents her latest collection inspired by shadows

After winning Bench Design Awards in 2019 and exhibiting her works in Japan, Antonina Amoncio makes a comeback to Bench Fashion Week (BFW). Happening from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at The Playground, Bench Tower in BGC, the fashion fest returns as a live event showcasing the best collections for holiday 2022. For the season, Antonina is presenting her latest works, which aim “to express the dimension of shadows occupying spaces and escaping a source of light.”

Aptly titled “Anino,” the eight-piece collection is a black parade exploring exaggerated silhouettes, cut-outs, and fabric manipulation. Before her pieces made their debut at BFW, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle got the chance to chat with Antonina as she shares her journey in making her spring-summer 2023 collection. 

First off, how are you in the past few years? What kept you busy during the pandemic?

The pandemic has been tough for me to be quite honest. In the first year, I had to look for another job to sustain my brand and to put my efforts into building my brand. It was not a quick recovery, however, for myself, I was able to find the right path during a time I felt most lost. I had Antonina, my brand, and a job outside fashion during the pandemic.

Can you share with us the story of your collection for BFW? 

In this year’s Bench Fashion Week, I came up with an eight-piece spring-summer 2023 collection with the title “Anino.” As a creative, I’ve always been drawn to images and visuals that resonate with me. This personal collection is like an extension of dark images or shadows, with a play on exaggerated sleeves and silhouettes, peeking holes, and manipulations that I have been doing in my previous collections, “Para Sa’yo,” “Gunita,” and “Walang Pamagat.” This is the very first collection of mine that had just one color, and as a designer, I was quite hesitant to execute a full collection in black. It can look flat from afar, but I was able to incorporate manipulations that are very close to my vision.

How long did you work on it and what materials did you use?

I was able to come up with the looks for more than a month in design and production. All materials are locally-sourced, with fabrics carefully manipulated with hand-stitching, cutting, and play of textures all in black.

Did the pandemic, in a way, affected your design and creative process?

I feel my design and creative process have not changed. I think it’s more of my viewpoint toward fashion. More than anything else, I became sensitive toward what I put, with careful consideration of our current situation. There were times I feel that this was not the right time to put things and create pieces, and I even questioned myself if there was a need to do so. The pandemic has given more perspective.

What is your goal in creating this collection?

My goal in every collection is to come up with large images in forms of fashion that best represent my vision and ethos. At the same time, make my audience get a grasp of Antonina in a presentation.

With the rise of virtual reality and the metaverse, do you think online fashion presentations have the power to replace the magic that comes from live runway shows?

I am still a live runway kind of person. Live runways will always give that sense of feeling, from the setting to the lights and sounds, the mood of the models, and down to the audience that a show has. More evidently, clothes flow nicely—this is seen much more on the live runway. But still, I love the idea of e-fashion shows, and honestly, it’s a form that takes up a lot of thinking and strategizing. I feel that both can coexist.

@manilabulletinlifestyle Today on #MBLifestyle fashion: Bench Fashion Week 2022: Every look from Antonina’s summer show “Anino.” For more #SocialNewsPh, visit mb.com.ph. #BeFullyInformed #GoodNewsOnTiktok #fyp #LifestylePh #benchfashionweek2022 #Antonina #Anino #style #fashion #fashionweek ♬ i want it i got it - Official Sound Studio

Visit @benchtm and @ninaamoncio to get updates about Antonina Amoncio’s spring-summer 2023 collection “Anino.”

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