Fashion First

Fashion in the Philippines just got a little bigger. The pandemic allowed the forging of new alliances to develop and move the industry forward. One of the more notable ones is the Philippine Fashion Coalition (PFC).

A collective of fashion industry designers, manufacturers, retailers, educators, government agencies and other industry players, the PFC envisions elevating the profile of Philippine fashion and contributing to the country’s economic and cultural development.

Last year, for the first time, PFC participated in The Asia-Pacific Textile and Apparel Supply Chain Expo and Summit 2024 (AptExpo 2024) in Singapore. Themed “Re-engineering towards a Resilient, Adaptive and Sustainable Textile and Apparel Supply Chains.”

“What was very interesting about our experience in Singapore’s AptExpo was that we found out that many manufacturers are looking for design as a service now. So that’s something we wanted to build on for the Philippines because we have an immense amount of design talent in our country. We also had some inquiries for textile design for manufacturers. Design as a service would be akin to a BPO service, but for design,” says Carissa Cruz-Evangelista, PFC chairman.

Designers under PFC that participated in AptExpo 2024 included Jor-el Espina, Jun Escario, Dennis Lustico, Puey Quinones, Ellis Co, Aztec Barba, Dodjie Batu, Emi Englis, Popoy Barba, Egay Ayag, Windel Mira, Edgar Buyan and Benjie Panizales. 

AptExpo is the first international supply chain exhibition platform covering the entire textile and apparel industry ecosystem in the Asia Pacific region. It facilitates collaboration and discussion, addressing challenges in the Asia Pacific textile and apparel industry, promoting cooperation and redesign of the Asia Pacific industrial and supply chain, and building a sustainable global textile and apparel supply chain system.

In 2024, the three-day event strategically provided learning opportunities tailored to upskill and reskill Philippine brands and designers, design/product orientations, digital fashion, advanced retail technology, sustainable development elements, supply chain developments.

These seminars/workshops introduced Philippine fashion participants with advanced knowledge in design improvement, advanced fashion retail technology, AI-driven fashion elements, digital fashion, sustainable fashion practices and supply chains, which are essential for navigating the evolving demands of the fashion industry. 

The PFC’s participation at AptExpo 2024 was made possible with the DTI’s Malikhaing Pinoy program, CITEM, CONWEP, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center Singapore and the Philippines’ Foreign Trade Service Corps in Singapore.