Ahead of its return this September, discover the designers bringing their unique stories and distinct perspectives to the sophomore edition of MNL Fashion Week.&nbsp;

PHOTOGRAPHER Jb De Leon

When it comes to the Filipino fashion scene, there’s no shortage of creativity — with designers, creatives, and industry voices continuing to shape an industry that is becoming increasingly diverse, dynamic, and undeniably alive. From established labels to emerging names, the industry is brimming with unique perspectives that are constantly redefining what Filipino fashion can be. With so much talent to spotlight, it also calls for platforms to bring these voices together. Answering that call is MNL Fashion Week, which returns this September for its second edition.&nbsp;
Formerly known as BYS Fashion Week, MNL Fashion Week continues its mission of bringing Filipino fashion to the forefront of both local audiences and global conversations. Taking place from September 3 to 6 at the SMX Convention Center in SM Aura Premier, this year’s edition features 11 homegrown labels, each offering their own stories, viewpoints, and creative practices while reflecting the many facets of the country’s growing fashion landscape.&nbsp;
Beyond the runway, MNL Fashion Week 2026 is also welcoming international press, content creators, and renowned artists across Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, which further open up new conversations around Filipino fashion and connect the local scene with a broader audience. But as the platform evolves, its core remains on celebrating the country’s creative community and the visionaries that push it forward. Ahead, here are the eleven Filipino designers and labels set to headline this year’s MNL Fashion Week.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">ANTONINA</h4>

Known for her eye for construction and achromatic palette, Nina Amoncio has long approached fashion as a form of personal expression, translating memories, emotions, and observations into pieces with clean silhouettes and precise cuts. For MNL Fashion Week 2026, Amoncio is stepping outside the familiar with a collection born from the need to pause, reflect, and reevaluate, bringing a softer sensibility to the label. With this departure, she hopes that this collection will leave her audience excited or surprised. “I guess with this, people would see us as a designer or as a brand who can do many things,” she shared.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">Charlotte Folk</h4>

Since its establishment in 2018, Charlotte Folk has grown into one of the country’s leading names when it comes to contemporary streetwear, building a distinct identity around a laid-back, urban spirit that brings youthful edge to timeless wardrobe staples. Following its runway debut at BYS Fashion Week in 2024, the label is back at this year’s MNL Fashion Week with a collection that revisits familiar streetwear codes through dynamic silhouettes, considered details, and pieces that celebrate the many ways one can dress and express themselves. Adding to the excitement, Thai GL stars Lookmhee Punyapat and Sonya Saranphat are also set to walk the show, making this one of the most anticipated moments to watch.&nbsp;

Playful details, bigger-than-life silhouettes, and an unapologetic approach to dressing have been the defining signatures of ḢA.MÜ, a brand that has built a name for pushing boundaries and challenging norms. Founded by Abraham Guardian and Mamuro Oki in 2016, the brand has always championed identity and self-expression — and through their upcoming collection, the design duo is looking back to where it all began, drawing inspiration from archival pieces and early works. “It's more of showing how ḢA.MÜ has been and who we are before and who we are now. I feel like we wanted to showcase how far we've come,” says Oki.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">KILL JOY STUDIOS</h4>

Manila’s ever-busy streets have been more than just a backdrop for rising designer Eugene Malabad; they are a constant source of ideas for his work at KILL JOY STUDIOS. From the forms of transportation to the heat, movements, sounds, and everyday scenes, his design language channels the city’s restless energy through tactile textures, bold silhouettes, and experimental details. Shaped by his childhood memories, Filipino pop culture, and queer experiences, Malabad creates clothing that feels personal, expressive, and inherently urban. As he prepares for the approaching MNL Fashion Week, the designer hopes audiences can connect with "youthfulness of the brand,” with all its curiosity, freedom, and fun.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">LILAH ROCHÉ</h4>

LILAH ROCHÉ is an emerging fashion label that finds its impact in structure rather than excess. With a certain architectural quality in her pieces, designer Jayanne Santos describes the brand as being "really focused on the garment construction itself,” characterized by its brutalist-inspired silhouette, precise tailoring, and sharply engineered shapes. For her collection at this year’s show, she extends this language into a theatrical narrative inspired by Filipino action movies she grew up watching. Reimagining the typical street hero as a female queenpin, she envisions the runway as a stage for a story about ambition, resilience, and female empowerment.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">LORICO</h4>

“Being able to go back to what is natural, what is vital" sits at the heart of designer Jerome Lorico’s collection for MNL Fashion Week 2026. Renowned for his ability to combine craftsmanship, cultural references, and unconventional materials, the designer looks closer to home this time around. His childhood memories of growing up in the province, where nature was always within reach, serve as his guiding light, exploring the restorative qualities of the natural world — from the sea, woods, and rhythm of the environment. Through the collection, his brand, LORICO, aims to capture their emotional effect, creating pieces that offer a sense of calm and respite from the chaos of everyday life.

<h4 style="text-align: center;">nicolò</h4>

Nicolo Perez’ clean and contemporary visual language takes on a more cinematic mood for this season of MNL Fashion Week, as he delves into the complexities of a creative life through three mythological figures: Sisyphus, Narcissus, and Icarus. “I really want to expand on our existing codes,” the designer notes. Distinguished by its carefully considered construction and functional details, his brand, nicolò, pushes its familiar language into something more ambitious, as the collection experiments with utility wear, embellishments, and new techniques. Together, these explorations set the stage for a collection that promises movement and discovery.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">PROUDRACE</h4>

PROUDRACE has long cemented its place in the Philippine fashion landscape, with a signature that blends streetwear sensibilities with a distinct contemporary aesthetic by drawing from everyday life references, local nostalgia, and youth culture. Led by creative director Rik Rasos, the independent label reworks familiar silhouettes through unexpected proportions and offbeat details, which earned it recognition both locally and abroad. Now, as PROUDRACE joins this year’s MNL Fashion Week, Rasos is intent on further developing the brand’s codes while remaining grounded in the elements that have always defined them, sharing, “We're trying to push our boundaries here to see what we can do.”

<h4 style="text-align: center;">RANDOLF</h4>

For designer RJ Santos, designing has always been an exercise of curiosity — and this instinct has influenced RANDOLF’s whimsical take on humour, pop culture, and nostalgia. With his ‘playtime’ approach to fashion, his works have become synonymous with the use of expressive prints, unexpected textures, and vibrant color blocking, particularly in menswear. For his second appearance at MNL Fashion Week, the label enters a more contemplative space, inspired by the idea of life, loss, and everything in between. Even with the emotional premise, Santos reassures that the collection retains its hallmark irreverence, teasing, “It's still not so serious. So, it's still going to be how we are.”

<h4 style="text-align: center;">Yana Kalaw Studios</h4>

“Why does femininity have to be proven?” This is the question that became the starting point of upcoming designer Yana Kalaw’s collection for MNL Fashion Week 2026. Recognized for the maximalist vision of her namesake brand, Kalaw depicts her practice as “controlled chaos,” expressed through striking colors, layered textures, and experimental fabric manipulation. Rooted in her journey of growing up queer and navigating societal binaries, her latest collection challenges the expectation placed on identity and, specifically, what femininity is supposed to look like. Through raw construction and a deliberate sense of undress, she uses these personal experiences as a statement on self-expression, reclamation, and individuality.&nbsp;

<h4 style="text-align: center;">Yong Studio</h4>

With designer and entrepreneur Yong Davalos at the helm, Yong Studio has made its mark on the local fashion scene with its take on Filipino ready-to-wear, pairing romantic, feminine silhouettes with a thoughtful approach to design. Since its founding, the studio has championed sustainability by creating versatile pieces from deadstock textiles and collaborating with homegrown artisans. For its MNL Fashion Week debut, the brand once again turns to nature as its creative catalyst, reflecting on the gradual transition from abundance to absence. Through delicate forms, tactile materials, and a shifting palette, the collection seeks to invite audiences to take a closer look at our relationship with the natural world.&nbsp;

GAFFER/TECHNICAL ASSISTANT Duke Rodriguez&nbsp; PHOTOGRAPHER'S ASSISTANTS Miranda Castel and Mark Ladia

Meet the 11 Designers and Labels Leading the Runway at MNL Fashion Week 2026

Recommended posts for you

Fashion