Ezra Santos opened the Fashion Forward Dubai (FFWD) Season Five with his magnificent Fall/Winter 2015 couture collection, titled “The Maria Clara Collection.” The sheer beauty of his collection is so impressive that I wanted to share this as my last FFWD Season 5 coverage. Cover photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Fashion Forward via Portsmouth Group.
For the past few days, I have shared some of my favorite collections from Fashion Forward Dubai Season Five, as well as professing my love for Bouguessa. But Ezra Santos Fall/Winter 2015 collection was so breath taking; it has such an impact despite being the first collection going down the FFWD Season Five runway.
The Manila-born, Dubai-based designer really made a statement with arguably his best showing yet; cocoon, baloon, fishtail silhouettes of perforated fabrics gave way to dramatic ball gowns. It’s worth noting how ecologically glamorous “Maria Clara” is. Ezra used piña (pineapple fibre) – a fibre made from the leaves of a pineapple plant mixed with silk – to create an organic yet luxurious touch in his garments. The precious hand-woven fabric (commonly used in the Philippines for formal wears) blossomed in dramatic ball gowns in blush pinks. He also used inabel, another organic fabric from the Philippines. The rest are tulle, jacquard, crepe silk, and neoprene.
Browsing the photos below is like watching stills from a movie. Ezra was inspired by “the old Manila in the 1930’s and the beauty of the older days, the gorgeous mestizas clad in their finest Maria Clara and the days of the Spanish occupancy in our country that has had a major influence in the Philippine fashion.” The finale in particular, was magnificent. Five models were sitting or lying down with their beautiful gowns spreading around them, while the rest did their finale walk around them. Afterwards, Sebastian Sauve helped them standing up one by one, and they made their way backstage. What a powerful last scene: beautiful models walking away in ballgowns fit for modern day fairy tales.
Ugh, enough talk. See the collection for yourself below!
Photos by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Fashion Forward via Portsmouth Group
[shashin type=”photo” id=”20759,20760,20761,20762,20763,20764,20765,20766,20767,20768,20769,20770,20771,20772,20773,20774″ size=”xlarge” columns=”max” order=”user” position=”center”][shashin type=”photo” id=”20775,20776,20777,20778,20779,20780,20781,20782,20783,20784,20785,20786,20787,20788,20789,20790,20791″ size=”xlarge” columns=”max” order=”user” position=”center”]
Thanks for reading; until next time,
Musank
Photos by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Fashion Forward via Portsmouth Group