Samson’s fragrant Filipiniana, Mobo’s Ramon Valera circa 2023

Joey Samson’s clean dainty terno worn with locally handcrafted flats (Photo by TheDiarist.ph)

At curtain call graced by First Lady Lisa Araneta-Marcos (center), with, from left, Lesley Mobo, Ben Chan, Margie Moran-Floirendo, SM Investments vice chair Tessie Sy-Coson, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, SM Supermalls president Steven Tan, Joey Samson (Photo by TheDiarist.ph)

No two design aesthetics could be more disparate than those of Joey Samson and Lesley Mobo—and that was precisely what Paskong Ternocon showed, leaving us feeling full, content, and visually stimulated.

The Ternocon last December 9 at SM Aura—the third since the end of pandemic—showed the breadth and depth of the innovation in terno design in contemporary Philippines, indeed in contemporary Filipino lifestyle. Perhaps not even Bench founder and CEO Ben Chan, after he and his team launched Ternocon in 2018, could have imagined to what lengths Filipino designers, young and veteran, would go just to explore the design possibilities of the terno—and more important, how to keep it relevant to the GenZs and the millennials. It has become relevant, or at the very least, it’s on their radar (just look at the design outputs in recent years of the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde fashion design students).

Backstage, Ben Chan (far right) with David Licauco and Michelle Dee (Photo from Ben Chan IG)

Samson’s 24-piece collection was almost monochromatic, dainty yet cutting-edge, with a dash of wit, out-of-the-box yet rooted in the classic. You could almost see Samson’s withdrawn, introverted personality (at least he is to us) in that collection—a sedate character who could let it all hang loose any minute. That was the vibe.

Mobo’s collection was fun and festive—“Happy lang diwa ng Pasko! Nothing intellectual, nothing serious,” he’d tell us after the show. He went to town with colorful floral  prints you almost felt like a butterfly fluttering in the tropical garden. He decked the traditional terno in ribbons, bows— such unabashed gaity—even if he almost drowned its design.

If Samson was subtle and restrained, Mobo was in your face, over the top. But both have their priceless place in our Filipiniana hearts.

Samson reprised and enhanced some terno designs he presented in Tokyo this year. His collection at SM Aura that Sunday, done as homage to Philippine culture and craftsmanship, built on his previous Ternocon collection themes—Loves of Rizal, Liham ni Rizal.

Terno made hip, using separates (tuxedo neckline, shorts underneath, flimsy ‘tapis’ skirt) (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)

Joey Samson’s embroidered tuxedo-terno top, accordion-pleat skirt (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)

Janine Guttierez in Joey Samson terno with giant ruffle (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)

He veered away from the black-and-white palette that has become his signature, and instead colored his collection ecru, beige with just a few token blacks. He used pina, organdy, tulle, with strategic embroideries and appliques. The result: a most dainty and fragrant Filipiniana look— light on the eye even if the construction is voluminous (accordion pleats on the skirt, on the bodice—the Samson trademark), thin and filmy like a wasp fluttering. Even if he used the tuxedo look in some, the result remains feminine and youthful. The demure feminine Filipina—who can wear her terno with trainers.

Samson’s forte is how he can contemporize his—“lola!” kind of literally. He used garment pieces from his lola’s baul and used these as accents in his barong. “I wanted to tell today’s generation that we don’t have to abandon our roots, that we can marry the old and the current,” he told us.

He turned the obi into peplum—the precious fabric sourced on his recent trip to Japan. He sourced some indigenous pieces from Ilocos as well.

He mixed vintage and antique jewelries with today’s accessories.

Samson proved his mettle when he broke down the terno into separates—he knew how to make the mix work

Samson proved his mettle when he broke down the terno into separates—top, skirt, pants, shorts, but unlike the newbie designers, he knew how to make the mix work—without making the look so busy like Edsa this Christmas season. He relies on smart detailing, not bombastic deconstruction.

Mobo’s over-the-top styling of collection (ribbons, bows, knots to rival the packaging section) didn’t fool us one bit—his was actually the simplest and most classic of silhouette and construction. Deceivingly simple yet intricate that it takes a master cutter and sewer to make it hew and shape the body just right. It reminded me of the Ramon Valera day ternos (in embroidered floral) that the foremost Filipiniana collector Dr. Eleuterio “Teyet” Pascual used to show me in his condo unit so I could scrutinize the construction and finish, and I could try them on (I kid you not; he and I harbored the same illusion about my size).

Lesley Mobo’s festively styled terno (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)

Lesley Mobo’s floral-print terno with bodice embellishment (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)

Mobo’s Ternocon collection was Ramon Valera circa 2023: the terno fell on the body to fit, with a little serpentina cut—long but not long enough to make the wearer trip, shaping a model’s hour-glass figure just right, not super tight. The fluid effect wasn’t easy to achieve, but Mobo did it. The technique was in the cut and the hand draping. Anybody could deconstruct the terno, only the seasoned couturier could construct it on the body—and make it wearable.

And that’s Mobo.

We loved the way how the lower back opened up, with the draping revealing the legs.

 

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Mobo told us that this was the continuation of his Tropical Ternos—thus the tropical floral prints. “I wanted to make a lot of long dresses that can be worn day and night; if you take out the styling, they’re actually wearable pieces,” he told us.

His concept was the Galleon Trade (with Spain, via Mexico)—Manila to Acapulco and Back. “We are in Asia yet we have the Latin American temperament, shown in our romance with color, the Mexican influences in our traditions. The ships traveled between the ports of Acapulco and Manila from the late 16^th to early 19^th centuries.”

As the models sashayed flirtatiously on the runway, we thought Frida Kahlo-meet-Norma Blancaflor-meet-Sylvia La Torre. (Google them please).

Mobo’s over-the-top styling of collection didn’t fool us one bit

His fabrics were simple and so wearable in this weather—cotton, jacquard, tulle. His color palette was as bright as the Manila sun (bay reclamation or not), the clash of the hues as typical as Philippine politics.

What Mobo made certain was—women can still walk and move in those ternos. We love him for that, especially for ordinary women who don’t have the entourage of a Marie Antoinette.

The collections of Samson and Mobo should be put on exhibit so that today’s generations can see how terno can still be worn today. There’s life beyond the ballgown.