For this year’s MEGA Ball, themed Fashion + Dance, designer Jaggy Glarino brought the rhythm of Filipino cultural memory to life through a look crafted especially for co-chair Georcelle Dapat-Sy—known to many simply as Teacher Georcelle. In collaboration with stylist Rex Atienza, the ensemble the ensemble became a celebration of how clothing can translate movement, conjure nostalgia, and elevate to a statement.
RELATED: The Best Dressed List at MEGA Ball: Fashion + Dance
“At the top of my mind were Philippine dances,” the Filipino finalist of the inaugural Sustasia Fashion Prize shares. “We committed to an all-Filipino-made ensemble—not just for the sake of representation, but to explore how deeply form, movement, and material are tied to our cultural memory.”
That commitment took shape in a sculptural jacket-shawl woven in the label’s signature technique, inspired by amakan, or kalakat—the crisscrossed bamboo matting used in traditional bahay kubo walls. More than texture, the amakan carried metaphor: of pattern, rhythm, and the layered movements found in folk dances like Tinikling, Maglalatik, and Itik-Itik.
“This is my story told through clothes. Built on shared cultural cues we all carry as Filipinos. Woven for her to own, move in, and wear with pride.”
– Jaggy Glarino
The bahay kubo becomes a metaphor for Filipino movement—rooted yet responsive, and always shaped by community. In Glarino’s design, these ideas are translated into fabric and form, with gestures pulled from vernacular architecture and ancestral memory. “The dances echo its textures,” Glarino says. “Its sways and shifts reflect life moving in rhythm with nature.”
Matching this cultural scaffolding was a pair of wood-heeled pantaboots, made in collaboration with MX Studio—an homage to Filipino woodwork traditions, reimagined as fashion-forward footwear. From the intricate carvings of aparadors to the sturdy grace of a butaca chair, this rooted the look in elegance and history.
Of course, even heritage had to move. “For Teacher Georcelle, I wanted the piece to feel like an extension of her language,” the designer says. “She’s shaped bodies in motion her whole life. I designed something that moves with her—not against her.” Woven is the look; a piece meant to sway with meaning.
Photographed by BIMPOMAN, assisted by RUZZIAN. Creative Direction by BRIE VENTURA. Multimedia Artist ANNA FLORES. Production Design by TIPPING POINT COLLECTIVE.
Special thanks to the following:
Major Sponsors THE HOUSE OF CREED, IQOS, ZYN, CREAM SILK, and BAKEN
Minor Sponsors LUXE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS GROUP, DEAR FACE, NEW MOON, MAGNUM, AWESAM SMILE DENTAL CLINIC, and PLAYTIME
