By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)
Filipiniana is usually defined before you even take a second look. The volume, the sleeves, the structure. It registers instantly.
For Josip Tumapa, that familiarity is where the work begins.
The Manila-based designer approaches fashion through construction rather than styling. In Constructed Light, the designer turns to Filipiniana and strips it back to how it is built, using material and movement to reshape how it holds on the body.
The first look, Ivory Light Filipiniana, shifts the focus to surface.
Made from Samal raw capiz shells, each piece is cut and shaped individually before being set into a mould to form a continuous structure. The result is a gown that holds light as much as it holds form. From a distance, it reads soft and luminous. Up close, the texture becomes more defined, almost rigid in its construction.
The familiar Filipiniana volume is still present, but it no longer leads. The shell surface does.
The second look, Gilded Geometry Terno, takes a different direction.
Built around the kuna, a traditional Filipino cradle, the silhouette is driven by movement rather than structure alone. The lower half does not fall in a fixed line. It shifts and sways with the body, holding its shape only in motion.
A black base keeps the upper body controlled, while gold metal elements expand outward into a circular frame. The contrast between stillness and movement becomes the defining element of the look.
Across both pieces, Filipiniana remains recognisable through its volume and formality. But here, capiz shell and cradle movement are not decorative references. They determine how each garment is constructed and how it behaves.
The result is a version of Filipiniana that feels familiar at first glance, but reveals something else the longer you look.
CREDITS
Designer: Josip Tumapa
Collection: Constructed Light
Model: Fatima Alsowyed
Looks: Ivory Light Filipiniana; Gilded Geometry Terno
Photographer: Steve Lumansoc
Makeup: Leonico M. Thogersen
Makeup Assistant: Patricia Goyenechea
Hair: Maxell Ablong, Ghale Requinaa
Special thanks: BEETZEE STUDIOS
