Joyce Penas-Pilarsky

Of cut-outs and floral creations
By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

German-based Filipina pret-a-porter designer Joyce Penas-Pilarsky unveiled her 10-piece collection at the close of this year’s Philippine Fashion Week (PFW) Ready-to-Wear series. Her collection, and that of other fashion designers presented in the same show, formed part of the 2012 Spring/Summer forecast.
Parfait colors peeped through daintily-cut patterns executed in varying hems and necklines. Body-hugging silhouettes and shoulder-baring ensembles splayed the catwalk in chartreuse, cerulean, vermilion and rose-colored hues. Models looked like sylvan nymphs encased in bloomed-filled sheaths. Like her collection last year, Joyce’s 10-piece trunk bore her proclivity for floral patterns. “I am into flowers still, have been and will always be. I really love flowers as they’re the expression of love. In fact, they’re the same subjects of interest I do in my paintings.
“I designed the patterns for the cut-out dresses. The pattern was then fed unto a laser machine that precisely cut the same into the textile. The floral patterns echo Nature and all the beautiful things you see in gardens and glasshouses.
“I stick to what I love because there are also a lot of other people who love flowers and Nature in general. I am happy that I make people happy wearing the clothes I design for them. I want to make people feel different when they wear my designs.”
This is Joyce’s third year with the PFW. Her debut was with fashion accessories that she co-presented with fellow designer John Guarnez. The succeeding shows featured her dresses as well as her hand-made jewelry.
“I love curls and curves. I’m not into straight lines and neither am I into abstracts. Even in my other forms of expression in visual arts, I’m not into modernism. Mine is Nature and everything that goes with it. It’s in line with the re-emerging ‘go organic’ movement. My future designs will still delve with inspirations from Gaia, Mother Nature herself. I am the kind of person who wants to have a ‘Garden of Eden’ feeling all the time.”
She’s just finished a tailored pant-suit collection for Gov. Vilma Santos that the Star-for-all-Seasons will be donning in her forthcoming movie.
Early next year, Joyce will be part of Green Project, a fashion fusion tri-partite initiative spearheaded by the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines (FDAP), the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the National Historical Institute (NHI), that’s slated to be launched in Feb. 2012.
This five-year plan has, as its foremost mission, the promotion of Philippine fabrics. The campaign will likewise showcase the creations of fashion designers selected to execute their concoctions using the featured textiles and fabrics.
A woman of many pursuits, Joyce will launch, thereafter, a self-help book entitled “Young, Sexy & Gorgeous” in summer 2012. She’s also excited to open her boutique in Makati City prior to the book launch.