By Stylish Team
One budding Filipina fashion designer who’s beautifully advocating the Filipino identity in fashion right now is Joanna Fungo, the founder and creative director of Anna Cheung Couture.
This designer brought her artistry in the international stage for the first time in Paris Fashion Week in September 2024, when she presented her collection dubbed as “Pilipinas Kong Mahal” (An Ode to My Beloved Philippines).
“I consider this collection as my ode for my love to our country, the Philippines. The creations symbolize the tribal community in the Philippines and a movement to protect our Philippine Eagle or Agila,” she added.
For the first time ever, Anna Cheung Couture presented the runway collection in the Philippines, through Stylish Magazine’s Style Visionary Runways Manila fashion show held at Coro Hotel recently.
For her collection’s Look 1, “For this look, I took inspirations from babaylans and Dream Weavers of the T’boli tribe. Our history tells that the Philippine indigenous communities used to recognize a woman as a Babaylan. Babaylans were our true leaders in ancient times, with the ability to mediate with the spirit world with her own spirit guides, and with her given gifts of healing, foretelling, and insight,” she explained.
The T’boli are Filipino indigenous people living in the southern part of Mindanao, particularly in the province of South Cotabato.
“For the Dream Weavers, they believe that the designs of the t’nalak they create are brought to them in their dreams by Fu Dalu, the spirit of the Abaca. They then bring these patterns to life by weaving solely from mental images and memory. My vision for this look is after the protectors of the mountains, the entrance of the Dreamweaver along with the bel music, symbolizes the dreams of our tribes that our culture will be preserved and be seen by the future generations. That our ancestors will serve as guide and remind us of our Filipino roots through the modern use of their products and weaves.”
Her Look 2 boasted of Filipiniana sensibilities, such as the infamous butterfly sleeves.
Her Look 5 was inspired by a well-loved Filipina literary character.
“I created a Traje De Mestiza which was well-known to us as the outfit of our beloved fictional character from the Spanish regime era who symbolizes the soft femininity of Filipinas: Maria Clara. This design represents the timeless beauty and grace of Filipino fashion.”
“The main inspiration of the color is of the Philippine coconut tree. For the skirt part, I used a rattan-inspired fabric.”
“The buko or the coconut is said to be the ‘tree of life’ basically due to its ability to provide almost all of what is necessary for living. In traditional Filipino folklore, it’s said that offering buko to a guest is a symbol of warm hospitality and goodwill which reflects our Filipino trait.” she said. “A metaphor for this ensemble also includes the fact that without the fight of our Filipino ancestors and those who fought in the war, we wouldn’t be enjoying the freedom that we have today. That our Filipino history should not be forgotten and it should be appreciated since it became our Tree of Life.”
For the collection’s Look 6, his voluminous couture gown was inspired by the Philippine Eagle, or Agila. I made use of tulle fabrics to mimic the feathers of our eagles,” the designer said.
“For the silhouette, I wanted to mimic a panuelo on the upper part of the gown. And as for the skirt, I want a ball gown type so that it will be able to highlight the feathers that was created piece py piece using a brown and black tulle.”
“This gown complements the first look since the Igorots in my storyline are the protectors in the highlands, and the eagles that they protect are at risk of becoming extinct.”
“I wanted to express the message of putting a stop to the alarming problem of the poaching. The Philippine eagles are being killed by poachers, and deforestation. I wanted to create an advocacy through this ensemble that we need to address these issues. As of July 2024, we only have 400 pairs remaining in our Philippine wild forests. It is an alarming figure since these species are only found here in our country and the duty to protect our Agilas depends on us, Filipinos.”
Cementing the Filipino identity in the global fashion scene is a continuous work made easier by the likes of fashion houses Anne Cheung Couture and fashion designers such as Joanna Fungo.
Anna Cheung Couture was one of the fashion ateliers featured in the Style Visionary Runways Manila, along with Heleyna Atelier by Janina Saspa and Fred Telarma.
Style Visionary Runways Manila is the in-house fashion show production of Stylish Magazine officially launched in April 2023, with a debut show in partnership with SM Supermalls. The recent edition in 2025 is in partnership with Coro Hotel.
———————————————
Barbie Forteza is on the cover of STYLISH Magazine right now, as she shares her thoughts on her new phase in her career with her new television series Beauty Empire.
Read our cover story here.
Tune in on our #StylishPodcast episode with Barbie Forteza this June 2025.
—————————————————————
Stylish Magazine is “your source of self-love, style & inspiration” first introduced in June 2020. Our television series format, Stylish TV, once ranked one of the Top 50 Most Watched Multicultural Shows in the USA, can be streamed on iWantTFC and be watched on TFC (The Filipino Channel) in more than 50 countries. Watch it online here.
Style Visionary Network is a lifestyle-business online platform where #WeCreateVisionaries. Also introduced in June 2020, Style Visionary Network is also the digital home channel of media brands Stylish Magazine and Stylish TV.