JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

James Reyes, originally uploaded by 160507.

This is James Reyes’s mood board for his Fashion Watch Quartet collection, showing May 20 and 22, 4pm teatime at the Shangri-la Makati.

“The collection was inspired by music and images from the early 80’s. It was the time when music dictated fashion and MTV was our fashion magazine. It was the time when we dressed up like our favorite singers and Manila became seasonless (winter wear in the middle of summer). This was also the time when Japanese designers ruled the fashion world and clothes were brooding, conceptual and emotive. This was the time my interest in fashion and style was solidified.

“This collection is a visual journal of who I am as a designer. Since this is my first solo show, I’m treating it as sort of a re-introduction of my design sensibilities. It will show my design influences and the direction my fashion is going. What will be evident in my collection is my graphic design background. After years of working in an ad agency, graphic design never left my system. I will be showing black, white and gray pieces which for me, covers an entire spectrum of color. Working with these colors give me a sense of freedom to create new shapes and surface tensions. My interest in architecture will be seen in the streamlined shapes and forms I used in the patterns but still respecting the human form. Music is a big influence in all my collections. This time, New Wave music of the early 80’s gave me visions of a concrete metropolis filled with people rushing about in cold weather, the wind blowing their coats and scarves about, a huge rush hour crowd in black layers, steel structures of modern buildings, twinkling windows of skyscrapers instead of stars, fog, smog and urban decay.

“If this collection had a title, I’d probably call it Metropolis.”