By Joy Agoylo
There is no shortage of fashion in the Philippines. What has been harder to find is a space where the industry can gather as one.
This September, MNL Fashion Week returns for its second edition with a clear ambition: to put Filipino fashion in conversation with the wider world, while making sure the celebration remains rooted at home.
From September 3 to 6, eleven Filipino labels will take over the SMX Convention Center at SM Aura Premier for four days of runway shows, pop-up galleries, and cultural programming. But beneath the production, the international guests, and the growing attention is a simpler idea — that fashion should be accessible, shared, and celebrated by everyone.
For founder and executive director John Lozano, that idea has been years in the making.
Related article: BYS Fashion Week Is Now Manila Fashion Week
It Started With a Fashion Show
When asked where his relationship with fashion began, Lozano goes back to a childhood memory.
“My mom made me watch a video of my sisters in a school fashion show,” he recalls. “That sparked my curiosity in the world of fashion.”
That curiosity eventually became a 20-year career as a stylist, followed by projects that consistently placed fashion within reach of wider audiences. Through Manila X, he brought together music and fashion. At BYS Fashion Week, he used the reach of a beauty brand to create a larger platform for designers. With Flique, he created a street-style magazine where, in his words, “people could see themselves in the magazines.”
MNL Fashion Week is an extension of that same instinct.
“Fashion should be consumed, it should be enjoyed, it should be for everybody,” Lozano says. “It’s not just for people who can afford it, or for people who have time to embrace it.”
That philosophy is important in an industry often perceived as exclusive. For MNLFW, the runway is not meant to be a distant stage. It is an invitation.
When Asked What Makes MNLFW Different
Lozano points to the designers themselves.
“We’re focusing more on designers that are brands themselves,” he explains, “because fashion is meant to be enjoyed and consumed by as many people as possible.”
This year’s roster reflects that approach, bringing together eleven labels with distinctly different points of view: Antonina, HA.MÜ, Yong Studio, Charlotte Folk, Randolf, nicolò, Proudrace, Lorico, Lilah Roché, Yana Kalaw Studios, and Killjoy Studios.
Antonina
HA.MÜ
Yong Studio
Charlotte Folk
Randolf
nicolò
Proudrace
Lorico
Lilah Roché
Yana Kalaw Studios
Killjoy Studios
Their work spans modern minimalism, maximalism, heritage craft and streetwear — a reminder that there is no single definition of what Filipino fashion looks like today.
And if last year’s edition established MNLFW as a new player on the local fashion calendar, 2026 is about pushing the standard further.
“We’re still going to highlight the best of the best in terms of Filipino brands and designers,” Lozano says, “and at the same time, it’s always a constant pursuit to push the boundaries and to see where we can bring the quality of shows here in the Philippines.”
When Asked About Competition
His answer is surprisingly straightforward.
“I don’t see it as competition, because we’re all aiming for one goal.”
For Lozano, the growing number of fashion events in the Philippines is not a threat. It is evidence that the appetite is there.
But there is one obstacle he believes the industry still needs to confront: division.
“The Philippines is an archipelago — we’re a collection of islands, more than 7,000, almost 8,000 islands,” he says. “We’re so used to being divided.”
His solution isn’t another rivalry. It is collaboration.
“It’s not to prove something, it’s not to show the world that we can do this better than everybody else. It’s really to bring everybody together — whoever wants to help push Filipino fashion forward globally is welcome to join MNL Fashion Week.”
It is perhaps the most revealing statement about what MNLFW hopes to become. Not the only fashion week. Not necessarily the biggest. But a place where the industry can meet.
The World Is Watching
The second edition arrives with a noticeably larger international presence.
Press from L’Officiel Vietnam and Malaysia, Harper’s Bazaar Indonesia, GQ Singapore and Hong Kong, Esquire Malaysia, Grazia Singapore, and Elle Malaysia are confirmed to attend, alongside content creators from Vietnam namely Bá Tùng “Tyler” and Nguyen Ngoc Linh Chau, as well as Cissy Lia and Helen Hiuu from Indonesia.
The runway will also welcome Thai personalities including Chaikamon Sermsong Wittaya (“Boss”), Anupart Luangsodsai (“Ngern”), Tharathon Phumphothingam (“Oat”), Siwaj Sawatmaneekul (“New”), Thanakorn Wichanukhor (“Min”), and Jarukit Kaewmoonrueang (“Toptap”).
For PR Director Vani Altomonte, the growing international attention comes with a responsibility.
“It only makes sense for us to double or triple that effort to make sure our local designers get the international recognition they deserve,” she says.
That recognition is no longer an abstract goal. International editors, creators and personalities will be in the room, looking at the clothes, meeting the designers and experiencing the industry firsthand.
Manila, for four days, becomes part of that conversation.
When Asked What Success Looks Like
Lozano doesn’t mention numbers.
He doesn’t talk about making MNLFW bigger, louder or more prestigious.
“A successful run for MNL Fashion Week for me is when the people working behind it have the best time of their lives,” he says.
It is an unexpectedly personal measure of success for an event built around spectacle.
“Staging this may be stressful at times, but ultimately it’s fulfilling, it’s worthwhile, and it’s fun.”
And then he brings it back to the audience.
“I want the audience to bring home with them a sense of fun and a sense of pride for Filipino fashion. That’s all I need.”
Bigger Isn’t Always Better
Ask Lozano where he wants MNL Fashion Week to be three years from now, and the answer is almost deliberately modest.
“It doesn’t really need to become anything.”
Instead, he wants consistency. To keep showing up. To remain faithful to the reason the platform exists in the first place.
“If we stay consistent and true to what we stand for, then good things are bound to happen.”
For him, the real legacy would not be measured by how large the event becomes, but by what it gives the community.
“If there’s a legacy that I want MNL Fashion Week to have in the next three, five, maybe ten years, it’s really the fact that we were uniting the Filipino fashion community.”
Then comes the line that perhaps best captures the spirit of the entire week:
“I want it to be a celebration of Filipino fashion, not a showcase.”
That distinction matters.
A showcase asks to be watched. A celebration asks people to take part.
And this September, MNL Fashion Week is opening the doors.
MNL FASHION WEEK 2026
September 3–6, 2026
SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier
McKinley Parkway, Taguig, Metro Manila (BGC)
The 2026 Roster: Antonina · HA.MÜ · Yong Studio · Charlotte Folk · Randolf · nicolò · Proudrace · Lorico · Lilah Roché · Yana Kalaw Studios · Killjoy Studios
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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