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On him: Tie-dyed embroidered barong
Tagalog by Bergamo; pinstripe gray pants by
Mundo from The Ramp. On her: Embellished
barong dress by Tippi Ocampo. Previous
spread, on him: Piña coat by Bergamo. On
her: Piña bolero by Tippi Ocampo.
www.
tippiocampo.com
most indigenous fabrics are still woven
in limited quantities and by hand.
“Weaves from the north have
beautiful traditional patterns as well as
dyeing techniques,” she adds, “while
the intricate beadwork that I’ve seen
in provinces like Davao is amazing, as
are the embellishments and shell-crafts
from Cebu.”
She applies the same principle to
the
barong
Tagalog, the traditional
embroidered men’s shirt, and took it a
step further: she made it for women.
“To update the baro’t saya, I’ve taken
apart the distinctive elements of the
design and mixed it with more current
touches — for example a sleeker
silhouette or modern proportions,” says
Tippi Ocampo.
Sourcing materials for her modern
baro’t saya takes her across the
country. For the delicate
piña
, woven
from pineapple fiber, and
jusi
(from
abaca or banana silk), Ocampo heads
over to Bulacan, north of Manila, or
flies off to Aklan in the Visayas, where
Oldmeets new
While historical structures are
preserved and restored, traditional
Filipiniana, on the other hand, are
being modernized. The
baro’t saya
,
recognized as the traditional attire
for women, is essentially a matching
blouse with full sleeves and skirt,
and was usually worn with a
tapis
or
pañuelo
(scarf). The fabrics used
are often indicative of whether an
ensemble is meant for everyday wear
or for more formal occasions.
R O C K I N G O U R R O O T S
The barong Tagalog gets
decked out in
floral embroidery