NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – The rush of fashion week electrifies New York City with each new season. Designers, their teams, and attendees alike come near and far to celebrate creative innovation in apparel. New York Fashion Week has always been a crucial gateway into the high fashion industry. Across oceans, fashion collective FILIPINXT is bridging Filipino talent to a worldwide audience at New York Fashion Week.
Attendee Kimberly Claudio, recalled the wave of emotions that hit her when the first model stepped foot on the runway wearing Filipino designs. Growing up in New Jersey, Claudio felt a lack of contemporary Filipino womenswear representation. As models passed by in butterfly sleeves and artisanal Filipino textiles, Claudio thought to herself, “‘Look how far we have come.’”
According to Statista, the Filipino apparel industry is growing by 3% annually. In culmination with the 2022 launch of Vogue Philippines, the nation is steadily becoming a new fashion hub within the region. Now, FILIPINXT is helping to expand the Filipino fashion market globally with New York City as a launchpad for international success.
This past year, FILIPINXT’s New York Fashion Week show was listed on the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)’s official Fashion Calendar for the 2025–2026 season. This was a tremendous step forward for the Filipino fashion scene as FILIPINXT is the first Filipino-led team to break into the global fashion mainstream in this way. “There’s a conversation about ‘there’s so many good brands from the Philippines, why can’t we see it in the US?’” said FILIPINXT’s Assistant Director and Intern Lead Lorraine “Raine” Panes. “We just needed a platform and support to put ourselves out there.”
New York Fashion Week’s platform has helped publicize Filipino names within the global fashion industry. Through her participation in the 2024 debut show, designer and previous winner of Project Runway Philippines, Veejay Floresca, was able to gain greater international visibility. Floresca has gone on to reach further global success. Just weeks after presenting at the FILIPINXT Spring/Summer 2026 show, Floresca was crowned the winner of the main Project Runwayseries. She is set to host her own solo show next season, according to Panes.
FILIPINXT also supports the growth of emerging talent. Panes, a recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and the previous founder of their Filipino Student Association (FSA), provides the opportunity for FSA members to volunteer at FILIPINXT’s shows. For many student volunteers, FILIPINXT is their first introduction to fashion week show production. “It’s part of our culture to help each other,” said Panes.
Fashion design student and FSA member George Zaldivar, is one of the many student volunteers gaining hands-on experience through FILIPINXT. Hailing from Manila, the young ready-to-wear designer of Manila the Studio said that volunteering for designer Chynna Mamawal was the first time she worked with couture. “Working with her was crazy because she made all these gowns, and they were so intricate and embellished,” said Zaldivar.
But the work of producing a large-scale fashion show is far from just the sparkle of bejeweled bodices and sequined skirts. Sometimes it comes with literal blood, sweat, and tears, according to Zaldivar. “I was so tired, I came home, and my roommate had to wrap my head with a t-shirt because I had a raging headache,” said Zaldivar. “My hands were bleeding. I kept poking myself with the needle because the fabric was tough.”
For Zaldivar, the importance of FILIPINXT within the fashion industry makes the gruelling work worth it. “Seeing all these designers come to a world stage, it gives me hope that I can someday do that as well and that there’s a space being carved out in the fashion scene for young Filipino designers.”
Like Zaldivar, FILIPINXT was New Jersey-based stylist Justin Guevarra’s first experience working on a fashion show. Through assisting designers Gabby Garcia of Tagpi and Ram Silva, Guevarra, observed the importance culture plays in their craft. “Everybody brings a little piece of home with them.”
These pieces of home are exactly what make FILIPINXT stand out in the sea of fashion week madness. The incorporation of traditional Filipino craftsmanship and attention to sustainability are part of these Filipino designers’ signatures. “Gabby Garcia works with local artisans from the Philippines and incorporates that in his design frame,” said Guevarra. “He uses traditional handwoven techniques and incorporates certain fabrics made of pineapple fibers. It’s this everlastingness of fashion where we could continue to create without destroying.”
Another key player in FILIPINXT’s success is its accessibility to the general public, as Eigil Joseph Pantaleon, an attendee, pointed out. It’s not every day that the general public can attend an official New York Fashion Week show just by purchasing a ticket. It’s also not often that the general public has the ability to purchase products directly from showcased designers.
This past season, FILIPINXT hosted its first marketplace before and after the Spring/Summer 2026 show. The marketplace was open to the public, reeling in crowds outside of just showgoers. Tables full of statement jewelry and racks showcasing garments with traditional textiles lined the venue. Beside these displays stood the designers, eager to make conversation with interested patrons. “It’s very, very rare that the general public gets to meet designers in general,” said Pantaleon. “I love that these designers were so willing to interact with all of us, regardless of where we stood in the fashion community.”
Through this, FILIPINXT is developing an engaged market for Filipino fashion beyond purely Filipino buyers. “It was a great turnout. We got to see the interest and the diversity at the show. It wasn’t all Filipino,” said Pantaleon.
With each FILIPINXT show, a community is forming. Whether you’re a Filipino-American commuting to see the show from a neighboring town, a designer flying across seas to showcase your culture in a major fashion epicenter, or a curious onlooker, FILIPINXT is achieving what many others in the industry are unable to do: building an open-to-all network of passionate fashion lovers through cross-cultural exchange.
“I’m proud of where we’ve come. I’m proud of getting the representation that we need to be seen not just on a pageant level or on a model level, but on an artistic level,” said Pantaleon. “People would label New York as ‘the fashion capital.’ It’s only fitting for us to launch on the largest platform of what fashion could be and expand to.”
