By Stylish Team
Filipinos have been making their presence even more known and undeniable in the world’s fashion capitals, what with even more stars such as Pia Wurtzbach, Michelle Dee and Maymay Entrata making their runway debut at the recent Paris Fashion Week. Meanwhile, global fashion sweetheart Heart Evangelista from her front row seat appearance also topped the list of international celebs bringing in the highest media values in recent Paris Fashion Week as per Vogue Business, a feat that even bested the biggest Korean and Hollywood stars.
Making a charmingly unassuming yet remarkable introduction in the recent Paris Fashion Week was young Filipina fashion designer Joanna Rechelle Fungo, founder and creative director of budding atelier Anna Cheung Couture.
A fashion house that takes pride in its fusion of the Asian touch and ever-changing modern styles, Anna Cheung Couture aims to showcase the expertise of Philippine artisans to champion slow fashion, all while offering versatility in each collection.
“I would describe my brand aesthetic as ‘Oriental Street Ardour’ which represents my love for the Asian culture including the Philippines. I do not restrict myself into one aesthetic for my collections. There are times that it can be soft, fierce, experimental. It will really depend on the vision and the story that I wanted to tell people,” Joanna shared in an interview with STYLISH.
A current full-time Research Analyst for Canadian markets, Joanna was raised as a business-savvy numbers gal, with educational background in Managerial Accounting and Accountancy from the University of Santo Tomas (UST). However, she’s always been called by the world of fashion as she was also booked for some modeling stints during her college years. She discovered her further passion for fashion design through a workshop with Rajo Laurel in the SoFA Design Institute in 2016 during her medical leave (Leave of Absence) from UST, and which led her to also take a Fashion Illustration course at SoFa, and later on also some elective courses in now-defunct fashion school Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship (ICEFAD).
For her debut in the French fashion scene, she opted to highlight her Filipino roots through her runway designs at the Paris Fashion Week Hi-Tech Moda Show for Spring 2025 at The Westin Vandome last September.
She called her collection Pilipinas Kong Mahal (An Ode to My Beloved Philippines).
“Since this is my first international show in the industry, I wanted to represent our country through my creation and to present an advocacy in protecting our cultural identity and endangered species,” she shared.
“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 opening of her show, Joana narrated a storyline of the Igorot tribe as the protectors of the highlands through her runway presentation, highlighting their traditional wear. The Igorot people are the indigenous group in the Philippines who live in the mountains of northern Luzon.
“In my vision, the Igorot tribe witnessed how free our Agilas are when they are overlooking the whole scenery from the mountains. Since I am aiming to reach out to the modern generation, instead of the actual look of the Igorot traditional costume, I created it in such a way that you can still wear it a formal suit.”
“Aside from incorporating the chaleco (vest), bahag and headdress on the modern trench coat, which are the elements of the outfits of the Igorot tribe, I also added a feather detail on the shoulder part which symbolizes the Agila, and how we are interconnected with all forms of life, and that we must protect it and realize its value.”
To genuinely uplift the Northern Filipino inspiration, the designer used Baguio ethnic weaves, and a wooden gong from Baguio.
“I believe we must embrace the responsibility of protecting our endangered species such as the agilas and to protect our tribes from our discriminatory and oppressive society and to preserve our traditional culture. It also signify how the Philippine eagles soar high and our tribes who are living in highlands such as Igorots watch their freedom as they fly high up in the clouds. This creation symbolizes the protectors of our Traditional Filipino culture.”
She also highlighted the “Land of the Dream Weavers” in her runway show.
“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.”
She also highlighted that the T’nalak weave is one of the signature elements in her collections. “I also don’t know why but whenever I see the different patterns of Tnalak, I feel connected with it. It gives me a hopeful and yet fierce feeling whenever I create something out of the T’nalak weave. Instead of using satins or tulle fabrics to create a unique silhouette, I used this weave to create an illusion of a Tapis for this ensemble.”
The Anna Cheung Couture spring runway creations were also featured in a fashion editorial shoot by the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“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.”
“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.”
The finale look of her runway collection was inspired by the majectic Agila bird, her central theme, also featured in the Paris fashion editorial.
“Of course, this 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.”
Her Paris Fashion Week debut felt like a second chance at life, as she just took a break due to medical issues after an almost fatal accident.
“I took a medical hiatus for one year and I just returned to the fashion scene in May 2024, so I was finding again my footing in the industry. One year was a long time and I got discouraged. The Hi-Tech Moda team reached out to me, and told me that they saw my last fashion show during the Manila Fashion Runway in 2023.”
“This is my second life after surviving my accident, and I realized that my brand which was launched in 2022, had come a long way. That the opportunities that I missed last year during my hiatus was replaced by God with something bigger. That despite of the challenges and doubts in between, I can always come back strong. With the help and encouragement of my family, I accepted this new beginning and regained my confidence again.”
“In the coming months, I am more focused on regaining my momentum in the fashion industry, building my clientele, and to reach more people that I can inspire and connect with. As being one of the Filipina representatives for this Paris Fashion Week and this event being my first international scene, I believe it is a big leap forward towards my dreams as a designer,” she concluded.
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