Fashion according to the ‘Queen of knitwear’

Tan Gan is no stranger when it comes to fashion design and merchandising. Hailed for her beautifully crafted woven pieces, her mastery and trademark go beyond what an atelier and boutique offers.

She recently shared her wisdom to young and aspiring student-designers, serving as consultant of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Fashion Design and Merchandising (FDM) Program.

Tan Gan was full of enthusiasm as she passionately told stories about the topics really close to her heart, which is merging Philippine artisan craft with contemporary design, and sharing the truth on what really ties and separates art, design, craft and fashion.

“Art is always personal. You do not necessarily have to like it. Design tends to be more commercial,” she said.

She further clarified that artists and designers both create visual compositions through a mutual knowledge base, but with entirely different reasons.

“The most successful works of art today are usually those that successfully establish a strong bond between the artist and the audience,” she declared.

For Tan Gan, art is a unique creation from an artist’s view or emotion shared with the public so they may be inspired by it or can relate to it, with various interesting interpretations.

A designer’s profession like hers tends to not only invent something new but to strategically communicate a fundamental purpose. “Before you execute a design, you have to contemplate ‘Who are my clients?’ It is not just [about making clothes]. You have to be certain it sells,” she mentioned.

However, when joining the fashion industry, Tan Gan stressed that it is vital to be familiar with the craft of each region as it helps the designer be acquainted which the best places to tap for local supplies outside of Manila.

Tan Gan, who encourages the use of stylized local and traditional wear by promoting Filipino fabrics and craftsmanship, also shared her insights regarding the local indigenous theme currently being highlighted in the fashion scene. “Understanding the culture of indigenous people is important,” she said. “Remember that for them it might be invasion.”

She also believes that craft may merge with design, if the traditional elements of the former were incorporated with contemporary materials or style, or if modern technology was used in the creation of a more relevant item.

“If art is an emotional piece, design is a purposed piece, and craft is a skilled piece, then fashion itself means trend,” she proclaimed. “When you are a fashion designer, you always have to be in trend. You have to constantly think and innovate to be able to sustain a brand,” she added.

Tan Gan cited the use of trapunto, which means “to embroider” in Italian and “to prick with a needle” in Latin, as an example of using textile in the field. One of the most renowned trapunto artworks were crafted by Filipino-American painter Pacita Abad, on large-scale masterpieces.

To be able to get a better grasp of the fashion industry, it is of utmost importance to know the differences between the four creative expressions. Most of the time, the words “art” and “design” are commonly interchanged. Tan Gan simply puts it as, “Good art inspires, is interpreted, is a matter of taste, and demands talent while good design takes skill, is understood, is a matter of opinion, and motivates.”