Kagay-anon Fashion Designer and Stylist Shine J. Casiño is going to the finals of another prestigious design competition this August, this time in Davao City.
Habi Kadayawan, a fashion and design competition now on its 3rd iteration has opened itself to entries from other parts of Mindanao to showcase to open opportunities for designers across the island to showcase their ingenuity and their global ready fashion designs.
A joint project of the Davao LGUs Kadayawan Executive Committee and the Davao Fashion and Design Council Foundation, Inc. (DFDCFI), Habi Kadawyawan 2019 will pay homage to the journey of Davao’s 11 migrant tribes across the diverse terrain of their ancestral homes in Mindanao to a newfound home in Davao City.
“This will be an opportunity for designers to not only showcase their vision and be guaranteed with a start-up capital but also allow them to bring their vision to Manila FAME, the hallmark of Philippine Design Excellence, through the Manila Trade Expo Pavilion,” said Dodjie L. Batu, Chair, Organizing Committee for Habi Kadayawan 2019 and President, Davao Fashion and Design Council Foundation, Inc.
Shine was informed last July 15 he had been chosen as a Finalist of the 2019 Habi Luxe Apparel Design Competition which would conclude with the 3rd Habi Kadayawan Design Competition Final Runway Event and Awarding Ceremony on August 9, 2019 at the Ayala Abreeza Mall Activity Center.
“I’m looking forward to bring home the title,” said Shine.
If he does, it will be only another milestone in a growing collection the Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental born and raised fashion stylist who started his career with a bang in 2000 when he made it to the semifinals of the Alliance Française de Manille (AFM) 2000 Filipino Art Design Competition.
The AFM was founded in 1920 and is one of the most prominent foreign cultural institutions in the Philippines. A non-profit organization committed to promoting the French language and culture, It encourages friendly relations between the Filipinos and the French through educational and art programs.
Out of 105 submissions nationwide, two of five Kagay-anon who submitted entries were accepted. Shine and his mentor, Melvin Lachica. Both made it to the top 30 as semi-finalists.
‘I was just a fresh graduate of International Studies from Xavier University after 8 yrs of shifting courses and had no previous design experience,” Shine admits.
Although he did not make it to the finals, the competition opened doors for the novice designer as he was accepted as an understudy by the late Cesar Gaupo.
Shine relates strongly to his mentor who, although only a high school graduate, rose to become a pioneer of local ready-to-wear apparel, making a name for himselfhaute couture, with his innovative designs and flamboyant colors.
He became the head designer the Cesar Gaupo RTW line for SM Store fashion merchandising in the 70s, eventually rising as chief designer for the luxury lifestyle brand Shanghai Tang in Hong Kong in the mid-2000s where he designed their year-round collections, becoming only the third Filipino designers to head the creative design team of a foreign fashion house.
Shine was mentored by Gaupo whom he met during the competition. He later came back to Cagayan de Oro and worked for three years with Melvin Lachica’sAtelier Lachica, getting his big break as head designer of Classic Style at Dolores (now Fernandez St.) doing casual, formal to business attires.
Next Shine again traveled north to Manila as a designer for Boardwalk, the Filipino direct-selling lifestyle brand under head designer Avel Bacudio at the Tektite Towers in Ortigas in the next two years before going overseas where he was recruited as a personal designer by a princess of Dubai’s Royal Family who learned about Shine from one of her sewers with whom he worked with in Manila.
“I had to submit 30 design sketches a day from which she would choose, and these would be executed,” Shine said. “Although I was her sole designer, I was assisted by many sewers and cutters.”
However, his ailing father constrained him to come home to Cagayan de Oro from where he later figured prominently in Look Magazine’s Look of Style Awardsnationwide fashion design contest.
Organized by Look Magazine and Inquirer Lifestyle, the annual contest aims to provide young and upcoming fashion designers with a venue to express themselves and their visions through their individual three-piece collections. It also aims to help them get started in the clothes-making business
In another fortuitous twist of fate, Shine learned of the competition when the organizers visited Cagayan de Oro to coordinate the event. He eventually made it as a Top 10 finalist among 75 entries from all over the country.
Meantime, Shine remains on call for his clients who include prominent politicians, professionals and socialites from around Mindanao and Manila.
So where does he get his ideas for his award winning creations?
“Although I had no formal training in designing, I learned a lot from my unselfish mentors, and I do a lot of research for each of my commissioned works,” said the quiet, unassuming and humble couturier, a pioneer member of Oro Fashion Designers Guild (OFDG),
Regardless of what the outcome of his latest foray in design competition turns out, Shine is clear eyed on where he wants to bring his fashion ideas.
“I wanna go global. I want to bring the Mindanao Look to the World,” he replies without hesitation.
This would entail modernizing the Mindanao Look focusing on the colorful tapestry of Mindanao’s history and culture, he explains. Mix and match various elements of Mindanao’s various cultures one step at a time depending on his inspiration. Not only for materials, colors but also fashion accessories.
For instance for this latest competition, he plans to make liberal use of the Mindanao Silk being produced in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.
“Through my fashion ethic I want to highlight the History and Heritage of Mindanao Culture,” he notes. “I love of my city, my hometown Tagoloan, and I am proud of Mindanao’s culture, people and its colors.”
Shine can be reached through his Facebook Page Dress Shop by Shine Casiño through this URL https://www.facebook.com/Dress-Shop-By-Shine-Casino-150585785688922/?ref=br_rs or his mobile phone #0975-520-8100.
