Hello World: Here’s To Welcoming The New Day In Good Fashion
As we usher ourselves into a new reality, fashion shows us how to take our first few steps forward
Today isn’t like any other day. The past months we’ve been waking up not knowing what each day will bring. But one thing remained constant: We have the comfort of fashion to make us feel home. Today is different, though. We are given choices—or at least some. One is to step out of our silk pajamas and brave the whole new world out there, or keep safe at home watch these unprecedented times unfurl before us. Do you stay or do you go? There isn’t one answer.
The past months Metro.Style has been with you, waking up with stories of relief. ‘Cause just like you, it would be nice to simply just breathe.
We followed our favorite fashion girls on what’s life like if you choose to get up, dress up, and show up for that Zoom meeting. There’s Heart Evangelista acing quarantine in stellar looks and happy moments, showing us that life can still be pretty in our own little corner of the world. Camille Co, Laureen Uy and more have lifted our moods with TikTok moments, doling out tips on how to feel good while looking good at home. And isn’t that what we need, just a little smile? Local stylists have chimed in working out a playful video on how to #PassTheAlcohol and not the virus. We are with them on this.
In times that we needed escape, didn’t we turn into our fave Captain Ri and Yoon Se-ri? Along with our other fave Korean style stars, a little warm hug in the form of K-Dramas kept us feeling all fuzzy. Our Metro Most Stylish girls kept us up to speed with style and our favorite stylish moms showed that though life indoors isn’t always an Instagram post, it was still the home we make of it.
As we gathered the little moments to breathe, we also mustered up all the information we needed to put things into perspective. Our little fashion industry after all is not just a strong one, but one with heart. We had amazing stories on the future of local fashion, where Rajo Laurel, former Metro EIC Sarah Meier and more share an abstract future that we should all get behind. Stories on ways to sanitize every part of your body, polls on fashion girls if we should wear our designer bags out, and designers making exclusive sketches on how to look great while protected have been the backbone of our storytelling: It’s fashion with a purpose.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them make them. We saw new fashion superheroes in the form Mich Dulce spearheading a big PPE-making movement here while she’s overseas. Pam Quińones’ Vestido Manila turned into a charity of sorts merging fashion and giving back. Fashion designers’ studios turned into face masks and PPE-making shops. It was an overflowing moment of goodwill, and you were all a part of that.
It was indeed a life within a life. Just at a point where we are all cozied up in our newfound routines, here we are again asked to make new ones. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned today, it’s that if you’ve made it this far, even further doesn’t seem that daunting anymore. It’s click of our heels, one day at a time.
While we may not think so, fashion comes to our rescue these days more than ever. As you add face masks to your daily looks, you make a statement of protection—that you’re saving actual lives for it. For every new purchase of clothing from a local store or designer, you’re helping businesses get back on their feet. A choice to wear PPE at work in public keeps your loved ones safe at home. And the choice to still wear those pretty heels—disinfected afterwards, of course!—makes you smile a little and then lifts everybody up around you, too. Metro.Style will always be here to guide you through this new day. You are always #AtHomeWithMetro.
There are many new battles to fight in the new reality waiting outside. It’s a new day, and dare we say it—a new life? But this is how we all fight and welcome them in good fashion—together.
Art by Raff Colmenar