MEGA YDC 2024 Runway Report: Akio Barreiro’s Love and Pilgrim

If art were a religion, Akio Barreiro is a disciple-turned-prophet ready to proclaim his own sartorial story in his tailored pieces

Religion is a unifying force known to man since time immemorial. In Akio Barreiro’s exploration of his fashion philosophy, he anchors his faith for this collection in a catholic sense of things. However, “Love and Pilgrim” is anything but a mere presentation of silhouettes and symbols that of a religious habit. Just like any thoughtful believer would, the designer takes his persistent inquiry on the credence of fashion into the runway and challenges its boundaries through his craftsmanship. 

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MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
MEGA Young Designers Competition Top 6 Finalist Akio Barreiro is a pilgrim making his journey to finding his fashion philosophy through his collection

Akio stitches his grasp of construction into monastic frames, particularly in necklines—layered, upright, v-shaped, or accessorized. He takes the circular geometry of the amice and guimpe, transforming it into a modern crop top hemmed with a tailored waist belt. Other religious elements are more straightforward such as the priestly red cincture belt and the use of velvet, a fabric known to cloth statues of saints. Vestments and emblems such as crosses, a rosary, and a scapular are part of a believer’s everyday use and wear. With its appliqué form in Barreiro’s collection, can it be treated as a commentary on the commandment of praising false gods and symbols? 

MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 1
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Delicate and angelic in form, the white outerwear features a tailoring that needs no broad shoulders to keep its dapper look

As an individual, Akio is a voracious consumer of art forms whose inspiration comes from punk music, Yohji Yamamoto, and for this collection, the painting of Edward Burne-Jones called “Love and the Pilgrim.” This is where catholic—a word synonymous to diverse—comes into play. While everything is bound by his signature tailoring style, his experimentation brings a modern iteration of an angel’s wings from a painting.

MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 2
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Taking inspiration from “Love and the Pilgrim,” the wings of the angel shy away, but peeking through in plain sight

In an earlier conversation, he mentioned a more detailed take on elements such as texture and structure. In the runway, he gives asymmetrical sleeves, a feathered texture on the hips, kimono-like silhouettes of the sleeves and the bodice. At the MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024, Akio Barreiro took us to church and made us a believer of his craft; one which binds varied influences into a coherent collection.

MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 3
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Akio’s edge as a designer is anchored on creative tailoring, distinct from the rest through asymmetry and layering
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 4
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Akio brings faith to the streets with his modern iteration of religious vestments and symbols
MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 5
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
The Eastern and Western silhouettes meet with the Kimono sleeves and button closure
MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 6
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
From a straight, vertical look, Akio adds an A-line variation for a clergy-inspired number
MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 7
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
The homage to clergy clothing is in the distinct elements such as the cincture, with a modern take on the black top
MEGA Young Designers Competition 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Look 8
MEGA Young Designers Competition collection 2024 Akio Barreiro Love and the Pilgrim
Feathered texture and cinched tailoring are in sacred union with this piece

Photography JHARWIN CASTANEDA. Creative Direction BRIE VENTURA. Sitting Editor MIA CASTRO

Photography by ED SIMON of KLIQ INC.
Official fashion fund and grand prize partneSECURITY BANK
Co-presented by BYS PHILIPPINES
Special thanks to AYALA MALLS, LILY AND MATILDA, and HILLTOP BY EVERYDAY COFFEE ROASTERS

The post MEGA YDC 2024 Runway Report: Akio Barreiro’s Love and Pilgrim appeared first on MEGA.



MEGA YDC 2024 Runway Report: Akio Barreiro’s Love and Pilgrim
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