On his Instagram account, top fashion designer Rajo Laurel showed the barong designs to be worn by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders for the slated fiesta-themed summit gala dinner to be hosted by President Rodrigo Duterte at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila on April 29, Saturday.
It was earlier reported that Laurel will be creating barong Tagalog shirts for the leaders, while Rhett Eala will be designing gowns for their spouses.
The designs, which feature the barong in green and blue, among other colors, carry motifs reminiscent of the T’nalak weaves of the T’boli.
Laurel noted on his Instagram post, “We took the traditional Barong silhouette but made this in a cotton linen material, and introduced color into the equation.”
“We then hand embroidered the Barong with indigenous Mindanao tribal motifs specifically the T’boli tribe,” he added.
Laurel also said that it was an honor for him to design the shirts of the ASEAN leaders.
