Shortly after presenting a graduation show at fashion school in 2018, Kelvin Morales was invited to make another collection for the runway. This time, the stage would be at a local fashion festival being bankrolled by a tech industry giant.

Fresh out of college and with no compelling prospects for a design internship at an established company, Kelvin thought it would be the perfect marketing opportunity to “start the brand on a trial basis.”

The collection, titled “Dance in the Dark”, was then characterized by fashion press as “eerie” and conjuring an “unsettling feeling.” Inspired by the pointedly spooky styling of Lady Gaga in "The Fame Monster" era of the late 2000’s, Kelvin describes the pieces “avant garde… and nothing moved!”

Ironically this lack of movement may be dually apt in referring to both a dormancy in commerce for Kelvin’s fledgling business, and a literal physiological constriction imposed on the wearer by some of the hyper-structural pieces.  

While the collection included a catalog of sensible tailoring, it also prescribed unabashed experiments with industrial materials — among them, a pectoral plate painted in an iridescent acrylic latex reminiscent of crude oil dripping, and a spandex balaclava dress with gloved sleeves in the hue of whipped praline, swathed with a swirl of silicon rubber resembling mortar paste.

That Kelvin was a bold voice in fashion was undoubted by the publications that consequently highlighted his work. The next hurdle for Kelvin, however, was how to turn his buzzy mainstream debut into a business for the bank.

The coup de foudre moment came when Kelvin was invited to an event with a barong dress code. With nothing to wear that Kelvin deemed sufficiently fashionable, he skipped attending the event altogether. “That’s when I noticed the gap in the market,” he says, “There was no such thing as modern barong.”

Fortuitously, upon consulting with his sewers, Kelvin discovers skilled embroiderers under his nose. “I found out that they can do traditional embroidery, like flora and fauna. So I said, let’s try a different take on embroidery.”  

Maximillian wearing the plastic bottles barong. Photo courtesy of Kelvin Morales

How would you describe your brand and your identity as a designer?

Contemporary, luxurious, and art. I am tapping the art industry, and this year I am more focused with collaborating with young and emerging artists.

When you tap collaborators what qualities appeal to you in their work?

You know how artists want to fix something, or offer something new in the industry, but there is no opportunity for their voice? If you have a way to help them tap this market… I like collaborating with young artists, photographers, videographers. The photographer Joseph Bermudez, for example, before when he was just starting, I saw his craft and his work. Now he is working with Nadine Lustre and he is now a photographer for big companies. I am really happy when that happens.

Can you take me into deeper detail of your design process?

My ideas tend to come randomly. Sometimes I am in the bathroom and when I think of something, I have to go out and write it down. With regard to checking materials, it depends on the structure of the pattern. I’m more specific with choosing materials. I notice that sometimes it becomes a problem with designers, not knowing how to choose textiles and develop them. After that is more research, as the patternmakers and sewers proceed with the work. After that I am hands-on with the lookbook and more business strategy.

How do you balance the business and creative sides of your work?

I think you just need to be aware of what you want to do, and you have to be sensitive with the market. I do not really follow trends because I would like to be the one to set trends, but you also have to be aware of that somehow. So when I make a collection there is a range, from T-shirts to art pieces, so that it is not flat, so that this market has an option, and it is more strategic. I also consider my stockists abroad and what they offer. Like in Malaysia where barong does not really sell as much, I have pieces in cotton. It is more about balance now. I learned from the process that it is better that you have a range.

What is the process like for you in designing barong? Anything particularly challenging and exciting about it, considering it is a huge part of what you do now?

It is super nice to work with barong, because you are telling a story using embroidery. It is also a way of supporting local craftsmen, that is why I push it. Especially manually guided embroidery, it is a dying art. My market really understands what the craftsmen do. I have clients that, after having worn the barong twice or thrice, they have it framed, because for them it is an artwork.

How do you respond to criticism about modernizing the barong as something that is supposed to reflect heritage and history?

The criticisms are usually from those that expect a more traditional barong. And I say, what I make is still barong, because it offers our heritage, our culture, and it represents our workers, our craftmanship. The barong should reflect our times. We have to be adaptive and make it more contemporary because, why not? Look at something like the kimono and its global status as a traditional piece of clothing. Why not the barong?