For his MNL Fashion Week debut, Nicolò Perez looks to Sisyphus, Narcissus, and Icarus to explore ambition, self-reflection, and the pleasure of simply being present in the work.

At nicolò’s debut for MNL Fashion Week 2026, sheer fabrics catch the light, sequins flicker with every step, and fluid layers drift around the body. Sailor-inspired separates meet relaxed tailoring, oversized shorts, cropped proportions, and beach-ready pieces, creating a wardrobe that feels as though it has just arrived from somewhere warmer.
Flow State, Nicolò Perez’s latest collection considers the complicated relationship between ambition and the work that comes with it. Drawing from Sisyphus, Narcissus, and Icarus, the designer turns to three familiar Greek myths to make sense of something decidedly contemporary: the pressure to keep achieving.

“While [I was] making this collection, I’m really trying to get into that flow state as well,” the designer tells L’Officiel Philippines.
The question unfolds across three chapters. Sisyphus begins the story with utilitarian tailoring and workwear references, bringing a sense of discipline to the opening looks. As the collection progresses, the clothes soften. Sheer layers, translucent fabrics, and rippling embellishments lend the Narcissus chapter a watery sensuality, while the final act takes on a more liberated character through sculptural silhouettes, exaggerated textures, and a touch of shine.

Then there are the birds. Small avian details appear as a nod to Icarus, whose story closes the collection, but nicolò’s interpretation feels less concerned with the fall than with the desire to fly. It is an apt image for a young designer entering a new chapter of his own.

This season also marks nicolò’s first foray into womenswear, extending the label’s signature sensibility beyond menswear.
“There’s more surface work than I usually do,” he says, “but I’m keeping it within the clean language of nicolò.”
The balance is apparent in the clothes. A sheer jacket is given the precision of tailoring. Relaxed shorts are elevated with metallic surfaces. Even the more embellished looks retain an ease that makes them feel meant to be worn rather than merely admired.

It is a distinction that matters to Perez, whose design philosophy has always been grounded in form, function, and emotion. This season, however, he found himself moving in the opposite direction from what one might expect of a designer mounting his most ambitious show yet.
“For this collection, I really want to expand on our existing codes,” he says. “As of now, I feel we’ve only been able to release our techniques in a very ready-to-wear and very sellable way. So, these techniques, I want to expand them into something more for a show, mas may impact.”
“Early in the design process, I kept adding details because I thought every look needed to become more elaborate,” he reflects. “Eventually I realized that the strongest ideas were often the simplest ones.”

The palette moves toward the colours of a seaside escape, with soft yellows, warm pinks, crisp whites, and deep blues appearing throughout. The show’s projections and lighting reinforce the sensation, bathing the runway in washes of colour that make the garments seem almost suspended between land and water.
Perez describes the atmosphere he wanted as “bright, optimistic, sensual, and a little escapist.”
“I want it to feel like arriving somewhere by the sea, with sunlight, water, movement, and a sense of freedom,” he adds.
By the final looks, that freedom feels palpable. The clothes have shed some of the rigidity of the opening chapter and arrived somewhere more instinctive. Sequins shimmer. Sheer layers float. Silhouettes stretch and sway.
Sisyphus is no longer simply pushing the stone. Narcissus is no longer only staring into the water. Icarus is no longer defined by his fall. In Nicolò’s world, each becomes part of a larger meditation on what it means to want more, and when to finally stop chasing it.

For his Manila Fashion Week 2026 debut, Nicolò Perez does not present ambition as a mountain to conquer. He gives it room to change shape, to become disciplined, then reflection, then release. And somewhere between the climb and the fall, the work becomes its own reward.

Nicolò Finds Freedom in the Flow at MNL Fashion Week 2026

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