A COLLABORATION by clothing conglomerate Bench and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) culminates again in a celebration of the Philippine national dress, the terno, in a gala on Jan. 26, 2020 called Ternocon.

Last year’s Ternocon featured designers JC Buendia, Cary Santiago, and Len Cabili as the mentors for the contestants, but for Ternocon 2020, the mentors will be Ivar Aseron, Lesley Mobo, and Philip Rodriguez. Like last year, designer Inno Sotto will serve as chief mentor.

The gala was launched via a press conference and a fashion show in the Bench Tower in BGC on Sept. 25. It included a short preview of some of the collections next year by the mentors, along with last year’s double gold medalist, Marlon Tuazon. The contestants — Hannah Adrias, Hanz Coquilla, Jean Dee, Abdul Dianalan, Jaggy Giarino, Krizia Jimenez, Windell Madis, CJ Martin, Dinnes Obusan, Xernan Orticio, June Pugat, Renz Reyes, Gavin Ruffy, and Toping Zamora — were also introduced.

Mr. Tuazon showed off a terno in ultramarine sprinkled with crystals, while Mr. Aseron showed a white one with wide-legged trousers, accented with black patterns recalling the Vinta. Mr. Mobo showed a beautiful white brocade terno with a mantilla tied around the skirt as a tapis (overskirt), and then Mr. Rodriguez showed a bit off flamenco flare with a terno paired with an asymmetrical balloon skirt.

EVOLUTION
The terno is a national dress that is in constant evolution. Think about it this way: you’ll always know what a kimono or a sari would look like, but the terno can always surprise you. This may have to do with the terno’s history, which began with the quasi-Victorian traje de mestiza, with a fichu and other such details, which was eventually pared down to a simpler dress, retaining the butterfly sleeves. “It has nothing to do with fashion,” said Mr. Sotto in an interview with BusinessWorld. “I think it has everything to do with us as Filipinos. Filipinos are constantly changing things.”

Margie Moran-Floirendo, former Miss Universe and current CCP chair, meanwhile, praised the innovations in the terno, but pronounced a caveat for those who might take it too far. “I think it’s very innovative for designers to produce a terno that evolves. But maintaining the sleeves — for me, it is important, the sleeve. The size of the sleeve, you can’t drastically change it, because that’s what it’s known for.”

“It’s good to be traditional,” she adds. “You still maintain the tradition of having the correct sleeves. Some designers try to be too modern, making too short or too small a sleeve. That does not look nice, because it’s [about] the proportion of the arm.”

The ultimate goal of Ternocon is to introduce the terno to a wider audience, via training and cultivating the talents of designers to make impeccable ternos. “When you make the right terno, more designers are able to participate.”

If anything, it has working. Ms. Floirendo noted that more women of more varied ages are wearing the terno these days, as opposed to during her time as a beauty queen in the 1970s. “What’s nice about it is even the younger ones are also wearing it now, versus during our time. We never wore the terno when we were young. It felt too old to wear one,” she said with some girlish laughter. — Joseph L. Garcia

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