Ternocon Palaro: Like a miracle on the football field

It was nothing short of a miracle—the Ternocon 2025: Palaro held Oct. 8, 2025 at the MOA Sky Football Pitch. Why? It had been a week of nasty weather—and floods—and people were expecting drizzles, at the very least, that evening. But no, instead the guests, who couldn’t resist the novelty of watching a fashion show in a football field—definitely a first in the Philippines—were given a clear sky and the warmth of Manila weather. It must have been the only evening of that week in October when it didn’t rain, prompting someone in the audience to wonder—“They must have offered a lot of eggs to Santa Clara.” (Offering eggs to the cloistered nuns for a prayer beseeching Santa Clara for good weather is an enduring Filipino religious custom.)

We didn’t get to check if indeed there had been some egg offering (miracles don’t need accuracy), but regardless of that, we’re hats off to BENCH, the SM Supermalls, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines for this daring collaboration that puts Filipiniana fashion and heritage right smack in today’s athleisure fashion. This concept is in itself a miracle in today’s global fashion current: a people’s heritage invading the context of modern and contemporary fashion, sportswear at that. 

And—to do it out in the open air, in the football field that many of the guests were seeing for the first time, was taking a bold risk.  The MOA Sky Football Pitch is the first FIFA-certified football field in a retail complex in the Philippines. Its transformation into a fashion runway reflected SM’s Bold New Era of reinvention and relevance, embodying the “All for You” philosophy through experiences that celebrate the Filipino talent and unite communities in fresh, inspiring ways.

“It’s the only place where you can watch fashion walk on the same ground where athletes play,” Tan added. “That’s the kind of creativity and versatility we celebrate at SM.”

The FIFA-certified MOA Sky Football Pitch is actually up in the sky overlooking the panoramic vista of the Metro Manila skyline. It’s a football field on the rooftop of the destination mall SM MOA, enormously vast—a daunting challenge for any fashion creative director. How do you give the clothes the starring role when the novelty venue is clearly the starring role?

However, Ben Chan of BENCH, Steven Tan of SM Supermalls, and Kaye Tinga of CCP apparently had no fear. Chan’s BENCH has been committed to Ternocon all these years, the SM Supermalls through Tan has set its sight on Filipino culture and heritage, and CCP under Kaye Tinga has been expanding its wings to communities here and beyond, across social classes, bringing culture to a wider context to include lifestyle. 

In this third-year collaboration of Ternocon with SM Supermalls, the theme was  Palaro to celebrate movement, diversity, and creative expression, a playful take on Philippine tradition. A full marching band opened Palaro, signaling the start of a playful festivity. And it ended with the jaw-dropping performance of the award-winning National University pep squad. 

This was one grand spectacle.

Ternocon Palaro featured six iconoclastic Filipino designers blazing the trail in Filipiniana fashion. Each collection was inspired by the theme of play, reinterpreting Filipino identity with a contemporary flair.

They were Len Cabili of Filip+Inna, Hannah Adrias, Glyn Alley Magtibay, Renz Reyes, Jo Ann Bitagcol, and Carl Jan Cruz.

Hannah Adrias reimagined Filipiniana through 1980s-inspired silhouettes. Glyn Alley Magtibay captured the energy of school sports using indigenous textures. Jo Ann Bitagcol blended nostalgia and ease in Liga line. Len Cabili of Filip+Inna paid tribute to the country’s love of basketball in Basketball Parabola line. Renz Reyes redefined traditional garments in sleek, sporty. Carl Jan Cruz transformed retrieved pieces and archival Bench shirts into playful expressions of Filipino creativity.

Their works embodied the core message of Ternocon: that Filipino fashion can be elegant yet versatile, traditional yet modern.

Given the vast football field, bathed in field spotlights, it was a challenge for the audience seated around the quadrangle to take a good look at the clothes passing by. But even in this passing parade, we noted a common direction: the designers mounted a daring Filipiniana-athleisure mash-up. Filipiniana (terno, maria clara, barong, balintawak) was broken down into parts, recombined to produce coordinates (shirts, pants, skirts) and reconstructed ensembles. Grabbing focus were the indigenous fabrics and upcycled or repurposed materials.

Jo Ann Bitagcol interpreted palaro using color, a play of prints, stripes and checks to match her signature photographs of terno and barong. She mixed street/sporty influences with luxe wear, all styled with exaggeration and whimsy by Daryl and Andre Chang who crowned each model with balloons. 

Glyn Magtibay was inspired by sport intramurals. “I was particularly drawn to the muses and ace players—their confidence, their charm, and the way they carried themselves with a lasting impression of pride and power,” she told TheDiarist.ph.

She combined sportswear fabrics with native Filipino textiles to produce a collection that merged athletics with heritage, “creating a fusion that speaks to the modern generation—fresh, relevant, yet deeply rooted in Filipino identity,” she added.

The game of chess inspired some pieces. A top was a modern take on the kimona, in piña and cotton, with yakan hood and appliqué details. Its front bore a chessboard appliqué layered with hand-applied chess characters.
The skirt, inspired by the kamisa, also of piña and cotton, had practical yakan fabric pockets, a design making the most of indigenous craftsmanship.

Another piece was inspired by baseball, featuring a distinctive stitching of the baseball itself. The barong was made of delicate piña, with multiple eyelets intertwined with twill tape, mimicking the distinctive red stitchings on a baseball.

The shorts reimagined the silhouette of a long-sleeved polo made of hablon sourced from Negros.

Renz Reyes told TheDiarist.ph that his collection was a celebration of everything he learned as a designer, all the techniques he’s been developing. He didn’t follow a concept, but just continued what he’s been doing. And his brand DNA (i.e.running stitch, layered panels) shone throughout.

Len Cabili for Filip + Inna had the theme Basketbol Parabola, inspired by the recollection of her father. “Basketball is a sport I shared the love for with my Papa. The sport brings back wonderful memories as I cheered for the UP Maroons back in college,” she told TheDiarist.ph, underscoring the fact that this national pastime connects generations.

“For this collection we found that  the curve is central to every element of basketball.
The curve trajectory of a basketball is typically in the form of a parabola….The parabola became the inspiration of our collection. The curve motif runs consistent in our collection.”

 She used inabel, abaca silk blend from Cebu, plaid cotton, ikat from Ifugao and knit. The basketball orange was the dominant color—in the patterns, in design details and the silhouette. “This collection showcases a different side of our brand, one that is playful and current yet distinctly Filipino,” she added.

Ternocon Palaro was another milestone in SM Supermalls’ commitment to champion Filipino creativity, following Paskong Ternocon at SM Aura, Kasarinlan, Kultura, Kasuotan at the Museo del Galeón.

“Filipino creativity deserves the biggest stage,” Tan said. “And at SM, that stage is always ready.”

No stage could have been bigger than that.—Thelma S. San Juan

For more information, visit www.smsupermalls.com or follow @SMSupermalls on social media.