MANILA, Philippines — The local fashion scene has definitely taken a hit from the pandemic, with everybody basically just wearing lounge wear 24/7, the inaccessibility of production and design teams, and the lack of events to showcase any new work.
For most designers, the prolonged lockdown was a time to reflect, seek out inspiration, and design possible new collections to create when quarantine protocols ease up. But for homegrown, contemporary brand Proudrace, the time time and these restrictions served as an opportunity to test and break boundaries for the label as a whole.
Founded by Industrial Designer Patrick Bondoc and Creative Director Rik Rasos, Proudrace is a fashion house that proudly represents a rocking wardrobe built on existing silhouettes and reworked old garments from the Philippines.
Showcased in its latest collection, this vision is painted anew with an entire line dedicated to breathe fresh life into otherwise to-be-discarded pieces. These are surplus materials, excess samples lying around post-workshop sessions, and pieces of fabric that would have just ordinarily contributed to the world’s pile of textile waste.
Image courtesy of Proudrace
Rasos tells Rank Magazine that challenges of life in quarantine played a huge part in the conceptualization of this collection, but not in the way others might think:
“The quarantine did play a big part on this. Having a hard time getting raw materials for collections, and in our workshop we just have a bunch of samples sitting around and we decided to rework everything and regenerate them to produce a new collection.”
“Even though we still work with local artisans, this pandemic made us explore to work with different sub contractors to continue and provide work for displaced sewers in the provinces. Moving forward to a more sustainable production and regenerated garments. The brand goes back to its roots of reworking and reconstructing dead stock garments and fabrics. Materials are recycled and sourced from different garment factories closing sales and purchasing dead stock products to re-invent them into the DNA of the label,” he adds.
In having limited access to their usual roster of materials, the label was pushed to experiment and tackle fashion design in a whole different way. Rasos even noted that it was “The chaos” of these fabrics that inspired the direction of this particular collection, turning into an avenue for the Proudrace fashion house to revisit and return to its origins rooted largely in streetwear sensibilities and experimental, deconstructed designs.
Image courtesy of Proudrace
This is apparent in every piece featured in the Pre-Collection 2021 showcase with pieces from Proudrace Artisanal, Proudrace Factory Sample, and Proudrace Main Line—experimental streetwear founded on a renewed sustainability cause. The result is regenerated table cloth aprons, oversized cut-out tops, recycled dresses, and more.
Moreover, the “Pre-” in Pre-Collection marks this project as a preview to Proudrace’s rebirth, with the introduction of new collections in the lineup that’s centered around the label’s sustainability efforts.
Images courtesy of Proudrace
“We’re calling it a transitional collection. It’s basically introducing our direction to be an eco-futurist brand. A more sustainable production using mostly sustainable materials,” Rasos explains.
Some items featured on the collection are pieces from the following lines:
Proudrace Artisanal would feature one-off pieces made entirely from recycled and re-worked garments and past prototypes. It also focuses on bespoke and artisanal commissions on a client basis.
Proudrace Factory Sample is the brand’s evergreen collection, with pieces that will be available constantly on the website.
Proudrace Main Line will house Proudrace’s constant efforts to explore its seasonal experimental collections.
With this first chapter, Proudrace hopes to metamorphose into a more purposeful fashion label that’s not afraid to push boundaries in design, without straying from championing its environmental causes.
“I always say the brand is a continuous work in progress with a strong solid DNA, and this transition for the brand is where we are supposed to be right now,” Rasos remarked.
Zooming in on this transition, he further explained that the pandemic has made the team more conscious in running the label sustainably. Creative-wise, it pushed them to revisit their experimental roots, and translate it to something more “relatable and contemporary.”
Image courtesy of Proudrace
These latest developments from the brand are certainly welcome efforts in introducing more environment-friendly practices into the fashion world, and we’re excited to see what more comes out of this direction.
With more bold, contemporary pieces coming into the streets’ busy runway, it’s about time we see some of these too-small garments and too-distressed clothes transformed into innovative pieces, and make their mark in Philippine streetwear.
Visit Proudrace and its recent collection and some pop-up releases through Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/proudrace/