BENCH Fashion Week, the biggest fashion week in the Philippines that has been serving as the incubator of Filipino design talent, will run September 19 and 20 at One Ayala (Hall A and B, Level 5), 1 Ayala Avenue, Makati. It will feature a stellar line-up of brands and designers, celebrating the spirit and energy of today’s Philippine fashion scene.
The 2025 BENCH Fashion Week will spotlight, along with the brands, the rising stars of Philippine fashion design: Koko Gonzales, Neric Beltran, the designer behind Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre; Daryl Matt, Bree Esplanada, and 2017 BENCH Fashion Awards winner Jaggy Glarino.
The 2025 BENCH Fashion Week continues the longtime commitment of the Philippines’ global fashion and lifestyle brand to champion both established and emerging fashion designers. Held annually—the only fashion event in the country that’s regular and consistent—it has become the major platform to discover fashion designers, a respected incubator of design ideas and innovations, and provides massive exposure for new and solid brands.
“It is our way of trying to make a difference in Philippine fashion and retail, to turn the Filipino design talent, both emerging and established, into a constant presence,” said Ben Chan, the retail visionary and chairman of Suyen Corporation, the business group behind BENCH.
“BENCH Fashion Week is both a laboratory for the Filipino’s creative, out-of-the-box thinking, as well as a platform on which this early design genius can be seen by the world,” Chan said. “And it is gratifying to see lines of people out to watch the shows, and how its market has grown.”
BENCH Fashion Week showcases a whole range, from casual wear, street style, and contemporary fashion, to accessories and lifestyle products. The show has become renowned for its high energy, polished runways, provocative fashions, trendsetting looks, and gorgeous male and female celebrity models.
On Day 1, Sept. 19, featured labels include the refined, feminine staples of Kashieca, the energetic Korean streetwear of 8 Seconds, and the sleek, contemporary edge of Urban Revive. They will share the stage with two designers known for their distinctive styles.
Koko Gonzales is purveyor of genderless fashion, maximalism, and playful silhouettes. Gonzales pushes his concepts of beauty and identity in fashion through bold experimentation and non-binary aesthetics, unapologetically breaking boundaries and challenging beauty norms even on the international stage, after successful shows during both the Philippine and Tokyo Fashion Weeks.
Neric Beltran is known for his costume design, ornate embellishments, detailing, and theatrical glam. As the go-to couturier of Filipino celebrities like Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre, and a renowned costume designer for theater productions and films, Beltran likes to close the gap between fashion and performance art, employing both drama and precision tailoring. Beltran’s 2023 bridal collection, Forever After, memorably combined sustainability with intricate handmade artistry.
To be featured on Day 2, Sept. 20 are the laid-back, everyday essentials of Cotton On, the sporty style of MLB and Bench Workwear.
They will be followed on the runway by the collections of Daryl Matt, Bree Esplanada, Human x Ha Mu, and Jaggy Glarino.
Matt, a one-time competitor on Project Runway Philippines and a regular in local fashion week shows, is known for sleek, modern silhouettes and minimal yet striking designs showing off outstanding construction. His is a refined vision of modern Filipino fashion, marked by clean lines, sophistication, and understatement.
Bree Esplanada, another frequent Philippine Fashion Week headliner, brings the drama with his trademark dark romanticism and rich textures, described as “straddling the ethereal and the architectural.” He beautifully combines delicate, flowing fabrics with strong structure to once more defy traditional gender images, instead celebrating the wearer’s individuality with the ultimate fashion statement.
Human x Ha.Mu is an artistic collaboration merging fashion and self-expression, and BENCH Workwear is the style for movement and life.
Jaggy Glarino, 2017 Bench Fashion Awards winner and champion of conceptual, avant-garde fashion, delivers a strong narrative, exploring Filipino heritage, gender fluidity, and sculptural forms. Glarino has creatively challenged the norms of Filipino-ness and identity to create clothes that are technically polished yet provocative at the same time, making him a key figure in pushing the boundaries of local fashion today.
For the after-party, guest DJ and Korean actor Bang Sung-Hoon will rock the house.
It’s been a landmark couple of months for BENCH, the leading Filipino fashion and lifestyle brand that has also made its presence strongly felt on the global front over almost three decades of existence, with several stores across Asia, the Middle East, and North America among its now 672 outposts worldwide, with the latest opening at One Ayala.
Last Sept. 2, the latest winners of the BENCH Design Awards (BDA), BENCH’s prestigious annual fashion competition launched in 2017, were presented at BENCH Design Awards (BDA): Philippine Fashion Now, a show held in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, during Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo, also known as Japan Fashion Week. Featured designers Steph Verano, Karl Nadales, and Peach Garde followed in the footsteps of past winners such as Jaggy Glarino, Bon Hansen, Renz Reyes, Jenni Contretras, and Antonina Amoncio.
The upcoming BENCH Fashion Week will mark the latest edition in the ongoing story of global and homegrown Filipino fashion, buoyed by the support and commitment of BENCH.
