The designer didn’t expect her DIY designs to land on an R&B star at the PLUS63 Festival, but one Instagram message changed that
Angela Chavez wasn’t expecting her designs to make their way to a festival stage—let alone on an international artist. But when an unexpected Instagram DM slid into her inbox, everything changed. One moment, she was a young designer crafting experimental, upcycled fashion; the next, her work was front and center as R&B singer Jenevieve performed at the PLUS63 Festival in Manila.
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Known for her bold, maximalist aesthetic, her approach to fashion is anything but ordinary. “I always gravitate towards something eccentric, fun, colorful, and young,” she says. Her graduate collection, Life is a Picnic, was a wild collage of unconventional materials—thrifted plastic rope, repurposed rice sacks, Monopoly and UNO cards, and silver paillettes leftover from an Eras Tour outfit she once made for herself. Traditional fabric was deliberately left out, a decision that made her work stand out even more.
That same DIY ethos caught the attention of Jenevieve’s creative team just days before the festival. “I got a DM last Thursday saying he was the creative director of an R&B singer coming to Manila to perform at PLUS63 and that he loved my brand,” Chavez recalls. “He asked if he could visit my studio to borrow Look 4 from Life is a Picnic, which was the latest post on my Instagram at that time.”
With no studio of her own yet, Chavez arranged for the team to visit her at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines Makati, where she also teaches. By the end of the meeting, Jenevieve’s manager had borrowed not one, but two of her designs: the beaded paillettes look and a white crochet menswear ensemble.
Still, there were no guarantees. “I wasn’t even sure if my pieces would make it onstage,” she says. “They didn’t tell me that this was their chosen look until I just saw her come out wearing my brand. I was screaming so much—it was the best feeling ever.” A year ago, her work was confined to school projects and photoshoots. Now, it was being worn by an artist in front of a massive festival crowd.
The look itself had come together instinctively, long before she even had a concept for Life is a Picnic. At the time, she was simply playing with materials she had lying around—layering beads, sequins, and old game cards over the paillettes, gluing pieces together in a process that felt more like an art project than traditional fashion design. She never even sketched it out; she simply started crafting, letting the process guide her.
The biggest challenge was making sure the piece held together. “I had to keep checking the metal jumpers by shaking it to see if anything would fall off,” she says. “Since it’s such a textured piece, I needed to make sure it was secure enough for the show.”
Seeing it move onstage, shimmering under the festival lights, was a turning point. is the first artist to ever wear my designs,” she says. “Previously, my work had only been used for photoshoots, so this was the first time I saw my piece in a live performance. It felt surreal watching my work showcased onstage in front of such a huge audience.” For the first time, her work wasn’t just being photographed, but being performed. And with that, a whole new world of possibilities opened up.
For young designers hoping to put their work out there, Angela Chavez’s advice is simple: create, experiment, and share. “You never know who might notice your work,” she says. “You could gain new fans, attract exciting collaborations, and even connect with creatives beyond your local scene. Anything is possible, so put your brand out they and stay true to yourself.”
One Instagram post led to a festival stage. Who knows where the next one might take her?
Photographed by JOHN DAVID DELA PERI
