The Language of Flowers

If the earth speaks through flowers, fashion is Kenny Ladaga's lexicon

- MARIAN SAN PEDRO

The most striking, divine blooms are nurtured in lands that are rich with what's truly essential light, air, enrichment, space to grow, and a good amount of rain.

Kenny Ladaga was just a young boy growing up in the small city of Tandag, Surigao Del Sur, when he started playing with paper dolls from newspaper and magazine cutouts. It wasn't long before he nurtured this hobby and found happiness in sketching girl figures in gowns. "That's the moment that I knew I'll be a fashion designer," he says proudly. After his college graduation in 2008, he had his first fashion-related job-and now, he's already 12 years in the industry.

When it comes to his identity as a fashion designer, Ladaga has always been fascinated with nature, especially with flowers, that's why signature-wise, most of his designs incorporate floral laces, appliques, prints, and beadworks.

"With my design ideology, I already embedded in my mind that no matter what, quality comes first than quantity. That's why today, in some ways, Kenny Ladaga Couture is known for having good quality made-to-own suits and gowns," Ladaga says.

For most of his collection, Ladaga starts his creative process with inspiration, which in his case is drawn from the unsurpassable beauty of nature. The ideas will flourish from a lot of factors, may it be from a movie that he recently watched, or from a random video he came across on Facebook-literally everywhere, for as long as there is a touch of the delicate flora in it.