It’s Been A Year Since ALSR debuted.
Being a full time employee, and to pursue fashion as one of my careers, requires a lot of effort and time to develop my design perspective and craftsmanship, studying construction, refining my eye for detail and building pieces that translate personal and cultural narratives into wearable form. Founding ALSR allows me to turn this curiosity into a practice, where overlooked things became design, and clothing becomes both expression and conversation.
I never expected my collection about overworked laborers in the country to reach this far, but it has, and it’s clear that so many of you see yourselves in it. That alone says a lot about the reality we’re living in.
This work was never just about aesthetics. It’s about the quiet exhaustion that gets normalized, the long hours that go unseen, and the dignity that often gets traded for survival. When people relate to this, it’s not just connection, it’s recognition of a system that asks so much and gives so little in return.
I had to turn that frustration into something tangible. What started as a way to process negative energy became a way to speak up, even in a small way. Because if this many people feel the same weight, then maybe it’s not just personal, it’s STRUCTURAL!!
My relationship with my heritage is intuitive and lived rather than literal. Filipino sensibility shapes how I see, feel and create, through values of care, resilience and attention to the everyday. Rather than direct Filipino references, it influences my work in subtler ways: in the quite strength of silhouettes, the respect for craftsmanship and the stories drawn from ordinary life.
It grounds my work in authenticity, allowing each piece to reflect both my personal experiences and shared cultural memory.
THIS ISN’T JUST MY STORY, ITS OURS!
Lastly, I am forever grateful for
@voguephilippines and
@ticiaalmazan for seeing the potential in me to be featured as of one of the emerging designers in Southeast Asia, and of course to my
@benchtm family who started all this, for believing in me! and to my friends, officemates and family who supported me all the way!
