Kadayawan is the season where Davao’s best artisans come together and display their best pieces fit for the season. There is a lot of festive fashion pieces inspired by the true wonders of Mindanao. Preserving culture has been a challenge for most designers because a lot of them would want to go by the trending and updated fashion styles. Most Filipino designers search for inspiration in a foreign land not realizing the rich and vibrant culture we have in the Philippines that they can develop. One designer in Davao has embraced and empowered the Mindanao heritage by incorporating traditional patterns into modern clothing. His brand of innovative pieces has earned him the to be the first winner of I AM STELLAR, the prestigious fashion design competition in Mindanao. This gave him an opportunity to become one of the finalists of the 2017 Bench Design Awards which was a competition for young Filipino designers to be discovered and sent to Japan for the Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo S/S 2018. Wilson Limon came from a family of fashion designers, he is the nephew of well- known Davao designer Bambi Limon. This did not make him lurk in the shadows of his uncle, instead, he created his own brand called NIñOFRANCO which became his tool in pursuing his dreams. His first love was medicine, his second was architecture, but he developed his love of fashion with his passion to preserve cultural heritage in Davao City. He took up his Fashion Design course at the Philippine Women’s College, where his thesis bloomed a perfect combination of both traditional Bagobo Tagabawa garments in modern pieces.
To open the Kadayawan Season, Wilson Limon held his first trunk show at The Marco Polo Hotel Davao for a one night only exclusive fashion show. He certainly made a mark in everyone’s hearts when he showed off his creations from the past years that he has been a designer. New designs were shown for the first time as well, and they were stunning!
To end the show, the artisans who are responsible for all the time and effort beading the garments came and made their appearance. This was great to see because some designers don’t often bring their artisans with them and house them for such a grand event but Wilson Limon proved to everyone that no matter how successful he is he still appreciates the people who helped him through his journey.
The night was a success and everyone rushed and bought pieces from the NIñOFRANCO line which was there for the whole month of August. We helped ourselves with a Wilson Limon original statement scarf.
Congratulations Limon!
To know more about Wilson Limon and his designs click on his website!
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