Fashion & Beauty
ollaborations in fashion are nothing new. In fact, for brands to survive these highly competitive times, it’s almost a necessity: luxury collaborates with streetwear, mass collaborates with designer, sneaker collaborates with athletes, and, the most popular, fashion collaborates with artist, dead or alive. The likes of late artists Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Vincent van Gogh have remained relevant—especially with the youth—because their paintings have been printed on T-shirts, jackets, handbags, sunglasses, shoes, and more.
In the Philippines, one fashion brand has become synonymous with artist collaborations, and not just with any artist—Filipino artists. Philippine National Artists at that. Freeway, which celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, launched its National Artist Collectors’ Series in 2009 and has since collaborated with 17 Philippine National Artists, the latest one being the late abstract expressionist José Joya. The concept of highlighting artists via clothing and accessories came to Freeway’s owner Sheree Roxas-Chua at a time when most retailers used famous celebrities as image models. “[Collaborating with artists] was a fresh idea,” she says. “Sublimation printing was relatively unused then and we wanted to explore that technology. It could make a print very clear, vibrant, and close to the original work. So we decided to give it a shot.”
Having gained the trust of the artists themselves or the families of late artists, Freeway has already done collaborations with the likes of National Artists Nick Joaquin (Literature), Ang Kiukok (Visual Arts), Ramon Valera (Fashion), and Levi Celerio (Music). This season, Freeway chose National Artist for Visual Arts, José Joya. “This is our first time to work with an abstract artist,” says Roxas-Chua. “Joya’s modern art interpretation rendered quite well on the clothes, much better than what I had envisioned.”
Prints of actual paintings of Joya can be found on panels of dresses, blouses, long vests, trousers, and skirts; and on accessories like tote bags, pouches, scarves, and fans. If you are a collector (or simply an admirer) of Joya’s work, you might recognize some of the colorful and energetic brushstrokes of his iconic works, such as “Global Warming,” “Timezone,” “Peace Route,” and “Space Transfiguration,” which was recently sold for a staggering P112 million! It set the record for the highest price ever paid for art at a Philippine auction.
So even if you can’t afford Joya’s original work to hang on your wall, you can certainly afford a Freeway top or dress to hang on your body. The collection is now available and will have deliveries of new prints every two weeks.
The Freeway x José Joya collection is available at all Freeway and The Row stores, and online at freeway.ph, therow.ph, zalora.com.ph. For branches and more info, like facebook.com/freewayphilippines or follow @freewayph on Instagram