Emerging Filipina designer Hannah Barrera recently dazzled the runway with her flower-inspired collection at the Fashion Graduate Italia in Milan, Italy’s fashion and financial capital.

Barrera represented De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) in the 11th edition of the annual event hosted at BASE Milano. It featured industry talks, fashion shows, exhibition spaces for school and graduate projects and portfolio reviews.

Themed “Bridging Tribes, Building Dreams” and spearheaded by institutional hub Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda, this year’s Fashion Graduate Italia gathered the next generation of talents to connect various cultural identities and creative visions worldwide.

The participation of the 25-year-old magna cum laude graduate of Benilde Fashion Design and Merchandising (FDM) Program in the fashion week marked her debut in the global design stage. Barrera is the first Filipina who was selected to join the prestigious event.

The fourth-generation designer continues to honor the fashion legacy of her great-grandmother Marina Antonio, grandmother Malu Veloso, mother Vicky Veloso-Barrera and aunt Letlet Veloso, all while making her own mark.

Her brand love, h, a curated selection of gowns consisting of fabrics that she personally hand-painted and dyed, was brought into spotlight alongside the works of students from several Italian and international schools.

The former Benildean scholar’s capsule graduation collection on the Milan runway is composed of four show-stopping pieces that reflect her art: the morning glory, the white iris, the bougainvillea and the gumamela. Each one is like a love letter she addressed to herself — a bouquet of flower she offered the future Hannah as a gift.

“Hidden in the collection are little messages in the form of concepts and designs that I would like my future self to know, so that years later I could look back at the collection and see what my 21-year-old self was trying to tell me; I am worthy and I will spend a lifetime in fashion proving that this is true,” she wrote. “To the me of tomorrow, this is for you.”

The morning glory is composed of draped abaca cotton silk from Aklan and embellished with carefully-crafted flower applique and cotton linen backing. The white iris is made from pure Philippine silk sourced from La Union. It is characterized by a lenticular off-shoulder collar and irises that are manually painted.

The fuchsia-colored bougainvillea captivated the crowd with its vibrantly dyed abaca silk and silk organza, along with handmade ornamental applique and stunning blooms. The scene-stealing red gumamela gown flaunts wood-dyed piña silk and abaca as well as beautifully hand-painted flowers.

Barrera was escorted and assisted by her college mentor Jinggay Serag. Andre Chang shared styling direction for Barrera’s collection, while Adanté Footwear provided the shoes to complete the overall look.