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Childhood memories tend to ingrain themselves deeply in us, influencing our perspective on the past and occasionally our future. One memory is conspicuously absent in Daryl Maat’s childhood: the Filipino school birthday party. The one enacted through ritual by skewered hot dogs and marshmallows, pans of baked macaroni, loot bags bursting with candy, and the entire class singing “Happy Birthday” with more gusto than the national anthem. Almost everyone knows this communal rite of passage—but not everyone has lived it.
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That absence became the seed of Kaarawaaannnn, his collection. “I began imagining what it might have looked like if I had the chance to celebrate in school,” the designer shared to MEGA. He channeled those daydreams into clothes, using Filipino textiles like inabel to recreate textures of childhood—uniform patterns, symbols of play—explored through inventive surface techniques. “The absence became fuel for imagination, allowing me to create pieces that feel nostalgic yet fresh.”
What Maat never experienced in person, he reconstructed through fabric: yellow tulle that brushed and swayed like cotton candy, red ties nodding to uniforms, blue caps sharp as party hats. A green balloon popped into three-dimensional form as a lapel accent on a yellow blazer-and-shorts set; jackets bore cloud-shaped appliqués; alphabet-block textures and kite motifs turned dresses into daydreams of chalkboards and playground chatter.
The collection is vibrant and joyful, but beneath the surface lies a pang. “I think my inner child was never really lost, it’s always been with me,” he said. “But this time, there was relief in finally letting that side of me be seen by the outside world through these clothes. It was liberating and fun.”
To never host such a party is to never receive that fleeting but formative confirmation from peers: you exist, and so do they. Maat doesn’t lean into that poignancy, however. He didn’t craft clothes that dwelled on what was missed and what could have been. He crafted a world of laughter, sugar, and chalk distilled into creative chaos that allows those memories to resurface, whether lived or longed for.
That mix of longing and relief gave the collection its resonance. “Many of my happiest moments were in school—playing patintero, choosing stones for piko, staring at a test, and looking at your pad paper. Those vivid memories carried a sense of joy and freedom that I wanted to bring into the garments.” By translating such moments into fashion, he built not only a wardrobe of play but also a reminder of how those small ways tether us to one another.
“This collection will remind people that we never really lose our inner child; it’s still there, waiting to be let out,” Maat reflected. “Revisiting those moments of innocence and joy gives us relief from the challenges we face as adults. It teaches us that even in the midst of struggles, there is still a playful spirit inside us that keeps us alive.”
On the runway, that spirit was contagious. His party may never have happened, but through color, texture, and play, Maat threw one anyway. It is fashion as commemoration, but also as reclamation. In bright primaries and childlike motifs, Daryl Maat transforms an unlived memory into something tactile, communal, and unashamedly fun. It was a party for us to remember and to celebrate.
Photos courtesy of BENCH
