<p>"It's beyond the technical side of making clothes, it's a medium of storytelling and expression," the designer shares.</p>

<p>A scroll through fashion designer Leby Le Moria&rsquo;s social media is a feast for the eyes: you'll find a melange of manually-cut faux fur, asymmetrical cuts, and raw textile. These visuals spark emotions that inspire learning&mdash;surprise, awe, interest, and confusion. The viewer is probed to think. One particularly meaningful work is Le Moria&rsquo;s series called <em>Skin&rsquo;s Skin, Remember?</em> Colorful square fabrics are buttoned together to create a customizable garment. It&rsquo;s unique in that, unlike a quilt, the fabric can be put together and broken apart, depending on the wearer&rsquo;s whims. &ldquo;I used materials that are familiar and created memories with me,&rdquo; shares the designer. &ldquo;Each piece of clothing is a book of stories from my memory or a diary with excited energy, waiting for me to reminisce [about] each one.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Here, <em>L'Officiel Philippines</em> dives deeper into Le Moria's mindset and processes.</p>

<h4>How did you first become interested in fashion?</h4>
<p>"[As a kid], I wasn't aware of the word 'fashion', but I spent so much time drawing clothes and making dresses for dolls with my playmates when I was around five years old. I still remember the excitement I felt the first time I used needle and thread to make the doll's dress. I think the reason why I'm comfortable sewing clothes purely by hand is because that's how I started."</p>

<h4>Walk us through your fashion career. How did you get to where you are now?</h4>
<p>"I applied for and was granted a fashion design scholarship at SoFA Design Institute in 2012, and that's where I really started to build my confidence with my creativity. It's one of the great experiences of my life; having the chance to speak my mind through clothing and its relationship to the human body is something that I cherish. After that, I became one of the finalists for DTI-CITEM's Red Box Design Talents competition in 2015. Now I am working on my personal projects as an independent creative, continuously challenging myself and expressing my visual voice."</p>
<h4>What are you currently working on?</h4>
<p>"I'm working on a piece I can't really tell details about right now. But [generally] I'm continually exploring and creating."</p>
<h4>What is your approach to design?</h4>
<p>"What I can think of is that a huge factor of my approach to design is resourcefulness, the continuous challenge of developing an idea with limited materials and creating something familiar yet new."</p>

<h4>What does fashion mean to you?</h4>
<p>"I used to define fashion as pretentious and always in the pursuit of a glamorous lifestyle until I realized I shouldn't define it how others define it because that [mindset is] what caused my struggles with the industry I'm part of. I had to go back to the time art connected to me as a kid. I define fashion as a personal language. It's beyond the technical side of making clothes &mdash; it's a medium of storytelling and expression."</p>
<h4>In three words, describe your aesthetic.</h4>
<p>"Familiar, new, free. Familiar yet new, but also free."</p>

<h4>Looking through your portfolio, all of your designs seem to be embedded in both personal and societal meaning. How do you curate your thoughts and inspirations to turn them into clothing?</h4>
<p>"I don't curate, I just do what feels right. [I take] what idea or thought I have in the moment that I have a strong connection with and turn it into a creation. It depends on what speaks to me, on what idea [I decide] deserves time and energy to create [with]."</p>
<h4>You play with and manipulate fabric quite frequently. Do you use or have a signature technique?</h4>
<p>"What I noticed with most of what I've created is that it's based on the most basic elements as its foundations, then applied into mediums, creating something familiar yet unfamiliar. I think that's my technique."</p>
<h4>What do you think you can bring to the table in terms of the Philippine fashion landscape?</h4>
<p>"In all honesty, I don't really think about this. Throughout the years I learned to focus on myself and what I can create and contribute to the vast collection of human creativity."</p>
<h4>What are your future plans?</h4>
<p>"I just hope to be able to keep doing what I do. I wanna create more without limits."</p>
<h4>What is your end goal as a designer?</h4>
<p>"Not just as a designer but as a creative person in general, I want to be able to connect to people through my creativity and contribute. That's my goal."</p>

For Leby Le Moria, Fashion Is a Personal Language

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