In the heart of Midtown Cebu lies White Brick Studio, a creative hub where visual professionals gather to collaborate and elevate design standards across Visayas and Mindanao. Midtown, more known as a vibrant entertainment district, owes much of its growing network of creative spaces mainly to Mango Square Mall where White Brick is located, Atúa […]
ArteFino Resort Provides Fashion Aficionados with a Summer Pop-Up
For their second iteration, ArteFino Resort took over the North and South Court of Power Plant Mall in Rockwell from March 6 to 9, offering Filipinos a glimmering vision of local Filipino fashions directly inspired by the tropical nature of the country.
The summer-themed pop-up featured thirty different brands from across the Philippines, allowing city-dwellers the opportunity to shop and plan for their future getaways. Many of the brands displayed a variety of products from dresses and bathing suits to jewelry and accessories. It certainly gave buyers a fully-formed perspective of the breadth of production in the country.
“[ArteFino Resort] focuses on our eternal summers and tropical climate and how that has influenced Filipino style and design,” ArteFino co-founder Marimel Francisco said. “And how that, because of our climate and our eternal summers, how that has inspired the way we dress and the way we live.”
The Fashion of an Eternal Summer
ArteFino’s summer pop-up really reflects just how diverse and vibrant the local fashion scene can be. The retailers were told to create “exclusive, capsule collections that embody the resort state of being,” which allowed for some creative expressions of tropical bliss.
For example, ARAO Jewellery showcased their Coral collection, which uses pearls harvested from the Philippine South Sea in intricate, coral reef-inspired necklace and earring designs that echoed that sustainability in the country. Others like Pamela Alicia and Arnel Papa presented accessories inspired by environmental practices or by indigenous culture, using traditional beadwork and craftsmanship or recycled materials for some of their products.
Clothing brands like Jor-El Espina, Maison Métisse, Pinas Sadya and others offered a mix of flowing but figure-flattering dresses for buyers. These met many buyers’ summer needs whilst harkening back to local and indigenous design patterns for an added flair of color.
For many of the stores here, their definition of summer is the festivity of color. Even shoe brands like Jhaz or Aishe Fashion came into the mix with some colorful footwear, some filled with tiny trinkets which add a chic pizzazz to their presence.
“They’re inspired by [our culture],” Francisco said. “They use the materials: breathable materials, lightweight fabrics, fabrics with a lot of pattern and all that. They’ve been inspired by that and that is reflected in their creations, again, which you can kind of trace back to our identity.
“Another thing that we wanted to highlight here was we wanted people to be inspired by the different regions that are in the country that are represented here, right? It’s distinctly Filipino, and we hope that [this] will inspire people to also travel to different destinations this summer.”
Supporting Small Businesses and Local Culture
Beyond the brands, the summer popup also featured their non-profit organization HeArteFino. This organization seeks to develop local design, sustainable practices, and cultural heritage through community work and livelihood development programs. It aims to create an empowered class of new artisans ready to preserve our traditions and push the limits of local design.
Francisco said that, beyond highlighting the local designers from around the country, ArteFino aims to create communities that revolve around the development of local culture. It goes beyond the local norms of style and design; ArteFino targets the proliferation of sustainable industries in the Philippines.
“The importance of it at the end of the day is that we support the communities,” she said. “All your purchases support the communities and the small businesses that make these products.”
“At the end of the day,” she continued, “that is what we are promoting. It’s our way of helping. And also, aside from the sustainable livelihoods, it’s also fostering that pride in our culture [and] in our heritage. Because all this points to our being very Filipino. It’s unique to us as a people.”
Photos by Ed Simon.
Related reading: KaPAMANA: ARTEFINO 2024 Shares Philippine Heritage Through Craft and Artistry
Frequently Asked Questions
ArteFino Resort is a curated fashion event showcasing local Filipino designs specifically inspired by the country’s tropical climate and eternal summers. During the 2025 iteration at Power Plant Mall, visitors explored exclusive capsule collections from thirty different brands across the Philippines. The pop-up featured a diverse range of high-quality products, including resort-ready dresses, ethically harvested South Sea pearl jewelry, artisanal swimwear, and footwear that celebrate the vibrancy of Filipino identity.
ArteFino promotes sustainability by highlighting brands that utilize eco-friendly materials, recycled components, and ethical harvesting practices, such as ARAO Jewellery’s coral-inspired pearls. Through its non-profit arm, HeArteFino, the collective supports community livelihood programs and develops sustainable practices within local artisan circles. By choosing these curated products, shoppers directly contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and the growth of responsible, small-scale industries throughout the different Philippine regions.
The collections prominently feature breathable, lightweight fabrics and traditional indigenous patterns that are ideal for the tropical heat. Designers like Jor-El Espina and Maison Métisse incorporate local beadwork and heritage-inspired textiles into modern, figure-flattering silhouettes. These materials are chosen not only for their functional comfort during the summer months but also for their ability to reflect a distinctly Filipino aesthetic that connects wearers to their regional roots.
Purchasing from ArteFino supports the “sustainable livelihood” of small businesses and traditional craftsmen who might otherwise lack a mainstream retail platform. The collective fosters a sense of pride in Filipino heritage by providing artisans with the resources to innovate while preserving centuries-old techniques. This ecosystem ensures that the profit from each sale reinvests into the community, empowering a new generation of creators to maintain the country’s unique design traditions.
The “Resort State of Being” concept encourages a lifestyle shift toward mindfulness and tropical bliss, reflecting how the Philippine climate influences local fashion and living. By tasking retailers to create exclusive capsule collections around this theme, ArteFino celebrates the festive use of color and the relaxed elegance of island life. This approach aims to inspire Filipinos to explore local travel destinations while proudly wearing garments that embody the rich, indigenous soul of the archipelago.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Standing on a former 1,200-square-meter pineapple plantation is CAW House, a Mid-Century Modern-inspired loft located just on the border of Silang and Tagaytay, Cavite. Designed by Rizal-based architecture firm Studio Tille, at first glance, the structure seems like a typical Mid-Century home, featuring a facade adorned with wood and stone cladding, a flat roof, floor-to-ceiling […]
In Malanday, Marikina, a simple home’s garage has been transformed into a studio-gallery called Espejo ni Pinggoy. Once considered by Pinggoy Generoso as a waste of space, it now serves as his favorite spot in the house, “When I renovated this part of the house, my main goal was to make it a very relaxing […]
What happens when furniture becomes a medium for preserving culture? At SoFA Design Institute’s iPAMANA: Honoring Filipino Stories Through Furniture exhibition, thirteen Furniture Design students explored how contemporary design can reinterpret Filipino heritage for a new generation. Presented on July 5, 2026, the exhibition challenged its emerging designers to look beyond convention, developing furniture rooted […]
In Parang, Maguindanao, a simple community pavilion is helping create space for dialogue, connection, and coexistence among Muslim, Christian, and Lumad communities. Known as The Banwag, the project by Studio Impossible Projects Inc. recently received the Gran Prix Malasakit Award, the highest honor at the 2026 Good Design Award Philippines, recognizing its embodiment of malasakit […]
Download this month's BLUPRINT magazine digital copy from:
Subscribe via [email protected]
Recommended Video
Tap to Unmute
Unmute
0:00
0:00