More Than Meets the Eye: Kelvin Morales on Exploring What is Brave, Peculiar, and Unapologetic

Clothes truly are an extension of one’s self, and it’s an ever-evolving medium to express ourselves through time, seasons, and personal whims. But for contemporary art and experimental designer Kelvin Morales, this concept is a line that begs to be crossed with pieces that make us, its spectators, look back and wonder what fashion even is.

With tattoo-inspired embroideries, colorized human hair, sheer fabrics, and other tactile qualities of human skin, he has created a unique collection entirely bespoke of his ever-inquisitive mind.

As expected from the man who brought us garments inspired by the fear of the unknown darkness, and one from the lost archives of our childhood, time and time again, Morales has lived up to his reputation of being a designer unafraid to push the borders of ideal, and standardized beauty, with exploratory and experimental pieces worthy of a second look.

The young designer tells Rank Magazine that his early introduction into the arts were in great thanks to how his grandparents [who were architects] inspired him to experiment on drawings at a very early age. With trips to their home every weekend turning into art days, and receiving new art supplies from them every Christmas.

Eventually, this led to a Fashion Design and Merchandising degree at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, in which his spectacular display at the graduation show got him his first editorial feature by a local magazine just days after his collegiate years in 2017. Then, the year after, he was invited to participate in the Panasonic Manila Fashion Festival, where he presented his “Dance in the Dark” collection.

It didn’t come as much of a surprise when Morales talked about his love for Lady Gaga, and how this influenced his aesthetic and identity as a designer. Though you wouldn’t be able to put two and two together when you first see his collections, it definitely made sense how the pop-cultural music and fashion icon and her many avant-garde looks came to mind.

He took this inspiration and transformed it into his own with personal self-discoveries sprinkled in each design: “I am a huge Lady Gaga fan. My aesthetics were heavily inspired by her dark aesthetic. It is also very personal which I find comes out naturally, but also my taste constantly develops from time to time.”

His style’s evolution over time is apparent, especially now as his latest venture contemplates the human body as more than just the model figure, but also the medium utilized for fashion’s sake: “What if the human skin can be used as material for clothing without the judgmental social hiss on cannibalism? What would it look like in the modern day? How would it feel?”

“Clothes should be an extension of one’s self and with this collection I took that literally. I interpreted skin as clothes and translated it into clothing that mimic that concept. This contextualizes the human body and the function of fashion in a different way, dismantling the stereotyping of race and beauty,” he stated in his collection’s philosophy.

Moving forward, Morales dreams to go far and take the (K/M) brand, which aptly also stands for kilometer, to other parts of the world. In the journey going there, he plans to collaborate with more young artists, and to release a new collection for home wear.

Needless to say, his brave pursuit of fashion exploration succeeds to do just that with a collection that’s fascinating, to say the very least. An inspired salute to his idols and muses, Lady Gaga and Tommy Cash, whom he admires for their brave and unapologetic take in presenting unusual things to society.

As groundbreaking as these artists are, Morales is definitely on the right track in blazing a trail in his own name with fashion that’s brave, peculiar, and wholeheartedly unapologetic.

Produced by Leo Balante

Photography by Josh Tolentino

Grooming by Chinkee Santos

Models: Gerson, Juan, and Esteban

Shot on location at The Penthouse Studio