San Juan MODA was a glamorous event where local and international designers, like Rosita Hurtado, gathered at The San Juan Resort & Casino for one week of an endless parade of high couture, models and after-parties. In my opinion, the whole thing was an outrageously genius idea. Not only because it lasted an entire week, but also because the best of the best designeres were there! I was lucky enough to attend to both Thursday and Friday’s fashion shows. There I had the opportunity to judge for myself which were the best collections, and to sum it up, my top favorites were: Lisa Thon, Sonia Santiago and Pipo Pere.
Starting with Lisa Thon and her inspirational show ” Zensorial.” Comfortable. Fun. Feminine. That pretty much describes the first part of her Summer 2014 collection. She showcased colorful swimsuits and cover-ups. Colors like black, cream and white were mostly seen on the runway. Though, I think people were expecting a little bit more from the show. God, I was expecting a little more. Thon and her “Zensorial” show was kind of repetitive. I can say that there was not much that had not been already seen in previous years. This does not mean that she did not have good pieces, because she did, but she was just too safe. Regarding the collection for men, it was mainly about button-down shirts and long sleeves in dark colors and patterns. From where I was sitting (which was pretty damn close) the textures looked fine and elegant. Quality cotton and nylon and good fit for waisted trousers. Unlike the blouses, these did not look that good. Some of the comments were: “How disappointing were the necks. Too high.”
On the other hand, one show that really moved me was Sonia Santiago’s and her Spring-Summer 2014 “Forever Sonia” collection. This collection was brilliant. Floral, laces, triangular back cut-outs, and dresses dominated the runway. Sonia Santiago blended red Valentino, a lace from Elie Saab and a gray and black from Giambattista Valli. There was not even one single person in that room that did not felt the emotions that were in the air that night. The show had everything from strength, to class, to softness, to sophisticated and so on!
Last, but definitely not least, Pipo Pere and his Spring -Summer 2014 collection”Grafico.” The title of this collection was intrinsic to what he was showcasing. It was all about patterned fabrics, fringes and a lot of twists in styles from the more conservative to the low “V” cuts. Grafico was trying to represent the young millenials and their fashion lifestyles. In my opinion Pipo Pere won the title of “The puertorrican Agatha Ruiz De La Prada”; if you judge it from that point of view, you can say that he created fabulous pieces, but taking it down a notch, it is more than simple to admit that some of his designs were somewhat difficult to combine or use in our everyday lives. Mono bathing suits were beautiful, the bikini-style swimsuits were, I would say, childish; nylon blouses-very feminine, classic and comfortable, but the frilly dresses and gowns with basic cuts left no impression whatsoever. As a whole, they did not favored in any sense the figure of the models. Although, I must admit that aside from the negative aspects of Grafico, the black lace on blue patterns at the end of the show were the talk of the night.
Anyways, I am signing out, but do not fret! I will be here to guide you and give you my critics on fashion for this entire semester. So, stay tuned!
HCXO,
Carla.
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