The Look of Style Awards (LOSA), presented by Inquirer Lifestyle, LOOK Magazine, and the British Council, is the only fashion design competition in the Philippines that sends winners to an all-expense-paid trip to the UK for a short course in fashion.
In 2016, the British Council has partnered with Istituto Marangoni to sponsor the winners’ three-week short courses at the institution’s London campus.
On 30 March, a public lecture and workshop entitled From Style Alphabet to Fashion Tales was held in SMX Convention Center. Emanuele Colombo, Director of Education at Istituto Marangoni Shanghai Training Center, headed the session where he discussed fashion history, brand identity and his experience as a designer for Giorgio Armani. After the lecture, the workshop commenced where participants produced a collage that represents their aesthetics and branding.
The lecture and workshop gathered 84 participants which included students, LOSA finalists, and budding fashion designers and professionals. Despite the late start and the extended duration, the programme was still highly praised in all aspects—quality, learning and lecture expectations. One participant even showed her interest in inviting Emanuele in the future for a private lecture in their office.
In the afternoon, Emanuele joined Ben Chan, Apples Aberin, Jackie Aquino, Michael Salientes, Inno Sotto and Randy Ortiz in the panel for the pre-judging of the design competition. Following the theme “I am a Filipino designer,” 14 finalists—ten apparel and four accessories—displayed their creations featuring local and ethnically-sourced materials.
The awards night was held on 31 March at Samsung Hall. The bags, shoes and jewelry from the four finalists of the accessories category were displayed at the lobby while the three-piece capsule collections from the apparel designers were showcased in a fashion show.
With his trench coat collection using Igorot fabrics, colorful beanies and booties with pompoms, Eugene Tidalgo, a technical theater major, was hailed winner of the apparel category. Fine arts graduate Micki Olaguer, on the other hand, impressed the judges with her artisanal jewelry collection using mother-of-pearl.
Eugene and Micki are set to take their short courses in Istituto Marangoni London in the summer with the following course options: fashion design, fashion image & styling, fashion business, fashion visual merchandising, fashion trend forecasting and fashion buying.