BYS Fashion Week 2024: Proudrace’s Collection is Made With Pure Love For Filipinos
Proudrace’s debut collection at BYS Fashion Week is packed with pieces that show the designer’s love for the brand’s roots and its Filipino wearers
For BYS Fashion Week 2024, Rik Rasos embraces his brand’s expressive DNA and alters streetwear into a new language: one that feels like a package waiting to be opened. Inventive and dynamic, its offbeat silhouettes, ingenious tailoring, and play on layers, cuts, and textures make for a standout debut collection.
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“It is common for Filipino Overseas Workers to sign their balikbayan boxes and mail it with their name after the closing phrase Love,—that’s where I got it from,” the designer told MEGA.
Created with extreme care and attention to detail, “From Proudrace with Love” stood out with its pieces that showcase a noticeable eccentricity. Employing Proudrace’s signature techniques of deconstruction and reconstruction, and making use of a mix of fabrics such as wool, Japanese twill, suede, calfskin and sheepskin leather, the collection demonstrates Rasos’ versatile techniques. The pieces highlighted both craftsmanship and design innovation with layers, cuts, and textures.
But there is a cheekiness to his work, too; with his playful and vibrant colors balancing the softness and affability of his clothes. It’s out of the ordinary, pushing the envelope with its creativity all while remaining authentic and fun—these are the clothes Rasos is interested in making.
His fashion philosophy: “The more sincere and light-hearted your fashion direction is, the more people will resonate with what you are presenting,” Rasos declared. “Because they can connect with you and relate with the garments you are making. At the end of the day, these are clothes that are supposed to make us feel good. And fashion, at its core, should be fun and expressive.”
With “From Proudrace with Love,” it is evident that Rasos is an emotional designer, but rather than romance, his clothes display a particular sentimentality and vulnerability: “I wanted to present a collection that is not just clothes, I wanted the pieces to have a deeper connection with where I came from and how I got to where I am,” Rasos shared. “Maybe I can call this an homage to my experiences. Maybe the audience will call it nostalgic—these are my experiences and my emotions translated into clothes. I can’t think of any other way of presenting a collection aside from being inspired by your personal story; I just find that more authentic and sincere. It also gave the audience a way to connect with me as a designer.”
Considering this is his debut collection at BYS Fashion Week, Rasos made it a show worth watching—his immense skill and strong sense of imagination and creativity walked the runway. For the designer, this is his moment to exhibit that Proudrace is proud of its Filipino roots, and it is proud of its making: “I’ve been doing most of my activities for Proudrace overseas and I’ve always been looking for ways to connect more with my roots and my Filipino audience. So when I was approached to do this, I thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase what Proudrace is doing when we present our collections overseas—to show that we are not just the T-shirt brand many people know us for. BYS Fashion Week has been mounting shows presenting excellent Filipino fashion designers, and I feel truly honored to be included.”
Photographed by EXCEL PANLAQUE
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