In the Carl Jan Cruz boutique on 45 Bayani Road, there are bespoke mannequins in the measurements of the CJC team. Unlike the usual fiberglass or plastic body forms on many retail floors, CJC’s have quirks of their own: slightly uneven figures standing tall on a pair of plush split-toe feet. Here, in the homey three-storey atelier, the clothes are molded to fit the body and not the other way around.
“I do love to create clothes focusing more on just a great neckline, a good armhole, a great hand,” explains CJ Cruz, creative director and CEO of his namesake label. “As much as we love collaborating with models (and you know, actual human beings), in a controlled environment, like in Silverlens, the mannequins adjust to the measurements of the garments that we have.” These static models were manufactured specially for the brand’s latest project dubbed “2023 Collection: International Interbarangay,” which launches publicly tomorrow on July 17 at Silverlens gallery.
It marks the beginning of a countdown to the brand’s 10th anniversary next year, and is simultaneously a celebration of the gallery’s second decade in operation. The collaborative one-day event is a veneration of the many places, faces, and phases that made the collection. It is also the brand’s first collection in a while, after having spent the past four years perfecting and innovating their mainstay textiles like piques, denims, and ribbed fabric.
Developed over a period of two years, the luxur.