By Joy Agoylo
After years away from the runway, Jerome Lorico returned to MNL Fashion Week 2026 on Friday night with a collection inspired by nature, restraint, and the meeting of his rural roots with city life. Enchong Dee, Pia Wurtzbach, Sarah Lahbati, LA Aguinaldo, Thai actors Boss, Ngern and Oat, Helen Hiu, Cissylia, and Linh Chau were among those who came out to see his return.
A native of Albay, Bicol, Lorico grew up surrounded by the sea, natural landscapes, and the slower rhythm of provincial life. Moving to Manila introduced him to another reality, one defined by concrete, movement, and constant stimulation. Somewhere between the two, he found the visual language that would eventually become part of his brand.
“The fusion of the rural and the urban gave birth to what I call now as the ethos of my brand,” Lorico says. “The intersection of what is raw and natural against what is brutalist and industrial.”
For his first major show in years, he returned to that contrast. Rather than filling the collection with unnecessary detail, Lorico focused on the qualities that have always made his work distinctive: knitwear, texture, form, and the behavior of fabric itself.
“This will be my first big show after a long time,” he says. “If there is something that I realized over that silent while, it is the wisdom in restraint, inner confidence of one’s own work and vision, and truth in the message you want to impart to your audience.”
That restraint is particularly evident in the way he approaches knitwear. Lorico doesn’t treat fabric as something completely under a designer’s control. He sees it as a material with its own character, one that can change depending on how it is handled.
“Fabric for me is like water. It has its own life and voice if you try to pay enough attention,” he explains. “Sculpting knitwear is like molding water.”
It is an approach that leaves room for instinct. Instead of forcing every piece into a predetermined idea, Lorico allows the material, texture, and movement to guide the final form. The result is knitwear that feels tactile and considered, with the construction itself becoming part of the visual statement.
His relationship with craft began long before fashion became his profession. Both of his parents were basket weavers, and his family ran a small handicraft business. As a child, he was surrounded by handmade objects and saw firsthand the patience and skill behind making something by hand. Formal fashion education was not readily available to him growing up, so Lorico found other ways to learn. He collected back issues of local and international fashion magazines from the only secondhand bookstore in his province, eventually taking what he had absorbed with him when he moved to Manila.
That early exposure still informs how he sees his practice today. For Lorico, fashion sits alongside art, design, and craftsmanship rather than existing in isolation.
“Designing is not just giving solutions and bending to commercial expectations,” he says. “It is a language that is used to articulate art and expression in a contemporary manner.”
His return to the runway also comes at an important point for the brand. In October, Lorico will take part in an exhibition in Paris during fashion week, with the MNL Fashion Week collection serving as an introduction to what he plans to present there. It is a fitting next step for a designer whose work has always moved between disciplines. Rather than simply taking a runway collection overseas, Lorico hopes the Paris presentation will bring together fashion, art, design, and craft in one setting.
For Lorico, this collection is ultimately about returning to what feels essential. Nature, craft, instinct, and the confidence to let his work speak for itself all come together in a collection that looks backward without staying there.
“I believe it is still early for someone like me to be discussing about legacy,” Lorico says. “But if there’s something I want to impart to other creatives like me, it is the message of persistence, truth, and deep passion for whatever you choose to do.”
Find the brand here.
MNL Fashion Week 2026 continues at SMX Aura through September 6.
Lorin Gutierrez-Bektas is on the cover of STYLISH Magazine right now. In our latest cover story, discover how she’s carving her own path and challenging what success looks like for today’s generation.
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