<p><em>L'Officiel Philippines</em> pauses for a chat with the brand's founders to learn more about their ethos.</p>

<p>Industrial design duo CP Garcia and Kendrick Cay are the brains behind the clothing label Construction Layers (also known as CLAY). Launched in 2019, the brand creates unisex pieces with a utilitarian edge. They made waves in the Philippine fashion scene in 2021 when their second collection <em>TIMESCAPES</em> was released. The lineup was characterized by its subversion of traditional silhouettes. The best example of this would be the Origami Shorts, which, at first glance, seem like basic bottoms, but the shape is modifiable by the wearer. CLAY's ethos of &ldquo;Embodiment of Progression&rdquo; serves as a driving force to motivate and improve, or even disrupt, ideas from the past, so they can be recontextualized to the present.</p>
<p>Here, <em>L'Officiel Philippines</em> pauses for a chat with Garcia and Cay to learn more about their brand's story.</p>

<h4>Introduce yourself and the brand.</h4>
<p>I&rsquo;m CP Garcia, co-founder of Construction Layers. I started CLAY with my partner Kendrick Cay in 2019, and ever since, it has then served as a creative outlet for our ideas. We both took up Industrial Design in college so having that kind of background in design, and the fact that we both have a common interest in clothing...it made sense for us to start the brand.</p>
<h4>How did you first become interested in fashion?</h4>
<p>We&rsquo;ve always loved dressing up as a way to express and present ourselves. For Ken, thrifting has opened his eyes to the different types of genres in fashion. His appreciation for art also helped him develop his personal style to represent himself more. On the other hand, I started becoming more interested in fashion when I got my first pair of Chuck Taylors back in elementary school. Ever since I got more conscious of how I dressed up as it gave me more confidence in presenting myself. Local fashion magazines and bloggers also jumpstarted my journey toward finding out what my style actually is.</p>

<h4>Walk us through your fashion career. How did you get to where you are now?</h4>
<p>We both met in college as we were taking the same course (Industrial Design). Before even talking about it, we already had plans for ourselves to start a brand one day, but we didn&rsquo;t know how to do it. We didn&rsquo;t know a thing about making clothes and running a business back then, so the thought of owning and running a brand was really intimidating. What we did have, however, was a common interest in good design and clothing in general, and shared opinions and thoughts on what we thought would make a good fashion brand. Then one day, one of us brought up the topic of starting a brand together - which ultimately led us to actually start planning for it. I still remember being ecstatic about it when I realized it was actually feasible to do it since we had each other&rsquo;s backs. Two years later, after countless bumps on the road, we released the first collection.</p>
<h4>What are you currently working on?</h4>
<p>"The team is currently working on a capsule collection which we hope to release later this year. In addition, we are also in the planning stages for the brand&rsquo;s studio workspace which will debut next year. With this in mind, we are committed to being more consistent in putting out more collections."</p>

<h4>What is your approach to design?</h4>
<p>Generally, we like working from a macro to a micro level. A new collection always starts with a concept. Whatever that concept is, it has to resonate and be authentic to both of us. It&rsquo;s some sort of foundation that is laid out and, from time to time, we like to zoom out to see if what we&rsquo;re developing still makes sense to the initial idea. When designing garments, we try to see what they will be like and the roles they play in the consumer&rsquo;s closets. Furthermore, playing around with established ideas and reinterpreting them through our lens also comes into play. Questions like &ldquo;What can we change about this shirt to make it more interesting? Maybe we can use unorthodox materials and switch up the pattern-making?&rdquo; are often asked.</p>
<h4>What does fashion mean to you?</h4>
<p>For us, fashion is all about telling a story through clothing. It's the right avenue for people to show who they are without having to speak. It's an avenue by which people can strive to unapologetically be themselves regardless of outside opinions. Fashion, for us, is ultimately an extension of who we are.</p>

<h4>In three words, describe your aesthetic.</h4>
<p>Contemporary, subtle, progressive.</p>
<h4>What inspires the brand?</h4>
<p>Personal philosophies and art mainly drive the conceptual aspect of our work. Furthermore, the idea of reinterpreting established ideas and executing them through our own lens feeds our hunger for designing.</p>
<h4>How are you inspired by Filipino culture?</h4>
<p>We just love the fact that our culture is rich enough to pull references from in different angles and it would still make sense to us. On one end of the stick, we could look at different indigenous textiles and choose to highlight them in the products that we produce. On the other end, we could take inspiration from [centuries-old] paintings by different Filipino artists and how they depicted life back then. Be it from the color palettes or the garments depicted in the paintings and trying to re-contextualize them...as long as it&rsquo;s inherently Filipino, It will always make sense to us because they&rsquo;re part of who we are."</p>

<h4>What do you think you can bring to the table in terms of the Philippine fashion landscape?</h4>
<p>Being part of an industry as a small brand where having 100% original ideas is close to impossible, we just try to design products that are as authentic and meaningful to us as they can be. We're always making sure to start from a clean slate every time we start working on a new collection so that fresh ideas can be executed in the best way we can, all while applying what we&rsquo;ve learned from working on the previous ones. Elements such as silhouettes, cuts, and fabric choices are always re-contextualized in a way that the garments can feel both familiar and new at the same time.</p>

<h4>What are your future plans?</h4>
<p>Aside from building our own in-house studio and being more consistent in putting out new collections, the team is also working towards holding more pop-up shops in the future so people can get a better grasp of our pieces in person. Collaboration with our fellow local designers is also something we are hoping to do more in the future. We also want to eventually expand our scope to not just clothing, but other types of design mediums as well: jewelry, furniture, and such. Lastly, we are also working towards presenting our collections via different mediums, not limited to photos and videos.</p>
<h4>What is your end goal as a designer?</h4>
<p>The most important goal for us is to be able to put out products that will stand the test of time and at the same time evoke a range of emotions and familiarity to the owner. With every collection we make, there is an attempt to establish longevity within the pieces &mdash; making sure that they serve a role within one&rsquo;s wardrobe. This loops us back into the brand&rsquo;s ethos, &ldquo;Embodiment of Progression&rdquo; &mdash; the main driving force of our work.</p>

Construction Layers Fuses Fashion and Industrial Design

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