Lulu Tan Gan: “I feel this generation of designers is somehow disconnected with the industry so I think it’s important that the school is not just bringing out students that are academically knowledgeable, but they have to know how to apply it.”

Lulu Tan Gan, one of Philippine fashion’s pioneer designers and the chairperson of De La Salle College of Saint Benilde’s Fashion Design and Merchandising Program, is ecstatic about this year’s SINULID Fashion Exhibit + Show.

“I think I was very fortunate this year because we have a very good group of students.”

This year, the graduates took on the pop-up exhibits as well as the fashion show.

Lulu says, “For the Merchandising graduates, the process of designing their clothes all the way to the pop-up store prepares them to understand how to launch their brand.

“And through visual merchandise, they are able to express their identity and collection and see the importance of packaging.

“There are so many foreign brands, they need buyers and merchandisers who understand the local market, these students are the market na they would be able to choose something that is for their generation.”

She believes that theory and knowledge have to be in practice among their graduates.

“I feel this generation of designers is somehow disconnected with the industry so I think it’s important that the school is not just bringing out students that are academically knowledgeable, but they have to know how to apply it.”

The exposure to the public through the exhibit from August 7 to 11 at SM Aura Atrium Hall, and the fashion show on August 10 at the Samsung Hall, is something the graduates need to experience as they embark on wherever their fashionable journeys take them.

Here are some interesting pop-up exhibits as well as pieces from certain collections at the SINULID Fashion Show.

Featuring clean, refined lines, Alyssa Ermitanio (Fashion Design) showcases savoir faire but with a distinctly Pinoy touch.