Frederick Peralta, one of the country’s foremost fashion designers, will be feted with a salon show at the Marriott Hotel Manila on June 8 at 6 pm. An exhibit-cum-sale of his custom-made creations, Federico, will also be held from June 8 to June 10 at the hotel’s Garden Room 2.

Peralta’s pieces are mostly haute couture formal attire and bespoke menswear. He has cultivated a loyal clientele that includes showbiz stars, beauty queens, supermodels, society ladies and men who want to dress well.

In a remarkable career that spans three decades, Peralta has shown some of local fashion’s most unforgettable garments.

The Concours creation. The most memorable would be his winning piece at the Concours International des Jeunes Createurs de Mode, the Olympics/Miss Universe/World Cup/Oscars of all design competitions, in Paris, France, in 1994. His a “A Day in the Emperor’s Palace” entry was a heavily embellished gown with exaggerated kimono sleeves dripping with crystals and pearls.

The original creation is said to have stayed with the organizers in Paris. The replica, however, will be part of the forthcoming Pilipinong Kasuotan collection of the Monastery of Transfiguration Museum spearheaded by Dom Martin Gomez (the former couturier Gang Gomez) in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Ana Lloren and Rachel Soriano, 2004 (Photographed by Nelson Villarica). Long before it was fashionable, or even legal, Peralta has championed the rights of same-sex couples to marry. At the 2004 Philippine Fashion Week at the NBC Tent at The Fort, Taguig, he sent (straight) male and female models down the runway dressed in wedding finery. No one was scandalized, as the “couples” were breathtakingly beautiful.

Miriam Quiambao and Kevin Peralta, mid-2000s. Always ahead of the curve and the avant-garde, Peralta sent not one but two brides in dramatic black brocade wedding gowns, unheard of in the mid-2000s, at a show at the Shangri-La Mall: his muses Miriam Quiambao and Assunta de Rossi, both escorted by his son Kevin.

Frederick Peralta, Assunta de Rossi, 2008 (Henry Anima II). He celebrated his 25th year as a designer by doing a bridal gala at the 2008 Philippine Fashion Week at the SMX Convention Center. Among his brides were Agot Isidro, Joyce Jimenez, Mariel Rodriguez and Valerie Concepcion. The statuesque Assunta wore an off-white and gold gown with caviar beadwork.

Princess Brides and Gangster Grooms, 2010 (Henry Anima II). At the 2010 Philippine Fashion Week at the SMX Convention Center, he brandished his own brand of flamboyance. Ball gowns after ball gowns of draped tops of gazar and organdy paired with skirts of layers upon layers of hand-painted tulle made princesses out of supermodels. The men paid homage to cinematic gangsters, clad in gabardine wool and crepe wool suits.

Dominic Rubio Painting, 2012 (galeriestephanie.com). In 2012, Peralta harnessed his inner artist and collaborated with the painter Dominic Rubio in “Artes,” where modern Filipiniana met the fine arts. Peralta’s haute-couture creations were rendered in oil on canvas by Rubio in a one-of-a-kind exhibition.

Teresita Ssen Marquez, 2015 (Bruce Casamova). In the two times that he created national costumes for candidates at the Binibining Pilipinas pageant, Teresita Ssen Marquez in 2015 and Angela Fernando in 2016, both won the Best in National Costume Award. Yes, Peralta makes award-winning ternos, too!

Manila Luzon, 2018 (@manilaluzon IG). Besides being a designer, Peralta’s many talents also include performing. He has a special affinity with drag queens, being a regular at the LGBT safe space, O Bar. One of RuPaul’s Drag Race breakout stars, the fabulous Fil-Am Manila Luzon, is a fan of his designs. She wore a barong Tagalog dress at the Season 10 premier of the show in March.

Ana Buquid, 2015 (Ash Reginald Evasco). “Federico,” inspired from the designer’s real name, will showcase mostly wedding finery from Peralta’s blockbuster collections through the years. Weddings, he has maintained, comprise the bulk of his business.

“A designer helps a bride’s dreams come alive, but sometimes my designs need a woman who knows what she wants and who can carry the clothes with confidence,” he told this writer after his stellar showing at the 2015 “Marry Me At Marriott” event. “Some brides are bored with classic designs. They want to have fun on their wedding day, so they end up ordering a different design from what they originally had their heart set on.”

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