As models made their way down the runway at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, each piece revealed more than style; it revealed the stories of the designers who created it.
For Filipino-American designers Marybelle Bustos and Puey Quiñones, fashion is a platform for storytelling one’s heritage. On November 22, the museum in Downtown Pasadena hosted a celebration of heritage and artistry. USC Visions and Voices presented “Threads of Identity: Telling FilipinX American Stories through Fashion.” Moderated by Eleanor Lipat-Chesler, co-founder of Ube Arte – a collective of musicians, dancers and artists with the mission to educate and advance Philippine cultural research – the event spotlighted the work of Marybelle Bustos and Puey Quiñones, performances by dance company Ancestral Vision Movement (AVM) and Filipino food – making the evening an exploration of the culture.
Kicking off the evening, Lipat-Chesler moderated a fireside chat with Bustos and Quiñones, discussing their journeys in designing clothing that reflects their cultures. Bustos, who was raised in Tataviam land – also known as San Fernando Valley – shared that her spark for fashion was ignited at a young age. During a slideshow presentation, Bustos showed photos of her large family and childhood photos of her unique fashion style influenced by hand-me-downs from her many cousins.
Displaying a photo of herself in a blue floral dress, she said, “For my 18th birthday, my debut, I debuted my first design,” Bustos explained. Referring to the coming-of-age celebration for Filipino women, she added, “Having an 18th debut in the Filipino community is really special if you have the opportunity to have one, because it’s really your way of showcasing who you are in your family and your community.”
Bustos credits her family’s support for her creativity, which led her to connect with her Filipino roots in artistic fields. This led to Bustos’ enrollment in Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) in Downtown L.A. and to moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, a hub of Filipino-American culture. Bustos joined the 2010 conference from the Center for Babaylan Studies in Sonoma, studying indigenous Filipino culture.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, this must be something I need to be doing’, because fashion is already a passion for me and combining that with learning about our indigenous arts really put it together,” Bustos said.
“Being in California, we’re really lucky to have access to these culture bearers and academics who have all this information.”
One of her most notable designs is the barong hoodie created for “Lumpia With a Vengeance” (2020), the first Asian American superhero film. After being featured at Comic-Con, the demand for the barong hoodie led Bustos to launch her brand, Bárû Mu, a family-driven, culture-focused company. Barong Tagalog, one of the national costumes from the Philippines, is made with pineapple fiber.
“It’s been evolving,” Bustos stated, “and because of our community here, they wanted something easier to wear ‘every day”. And so I said, ‘Let’s make a hoodie!’”
While Bustos’ passion started early, Quiñones’ path started later in life. Quiñones, who was named one of the “People of the Year” in 2024 by People Asia, was unsure what he wanted to create for a long time. Born in Northern Samar, a typhoon-prone area in the Philippines, Quiñones struggled to find direction. He worked as a dance instructor in secret while his parents believed he was studying at university to become a policeman.
“I don’t want to become a policeman,” Quiñones recalled telling his father, “Unless the bullet is [a] flower, I would.”
‘I believed that fashion was only for the rich people, and I wasn’t.’ – Puey Quiñones
After moving to Manila to live with his aunt, Quiñones discovered fashion through her business partner, designer Dennis Lustico. While Quiñones started helping out with housekeeping duties, he began experimenting with scrap fabrics and joining the seamstresses during his breaks, catching Lustico’s attention. Still, he doubted he could have a career in fashion.
“Coming from humble beginnings, I was kind of hesitant to tell him or tell my friends that I wanted to become a fashion designer, because I believed that fashion is only for the rich people, and I wasn’t.”
With Lustico’s encouragement and recommendation, Quiñones landed his first job in the industry. Since then, Quiñones has merged activism and fashion to help uplift his community. In 2020, his team created 10,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) suits out of taffeta, donating the fashionable gear to 20 hospitals in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quiñones highlighted his work in the documentary “The World’s Most Fashionable Prison” (2012), where he taught an art and design class of 40 inmates in the New Bilibid Prison, as his greatest achievement. Although he was initially scared to visit the maximum-security prison, he stated that speaking with the inmates changed his perspective.
“I saw in their eyes that they need something new to do; they’re hungry for something creative. So I said, okay, I promised myself that I won’t do this once, but I’d better come back. And that single day became seven years of going back and forth,” he said. “We’re all human beings who make mistakes and deserve second chances, and I always believe in that. Coming from a very humble beginning, I had a turbulent life as well.”
After sharing their personal stories, Quiñones and Bustos came together to discuss preserving traditional weaving practices. Bustos shared her love for slow fashion, a movement that advocates buying fewer, better-quality, and more durable clothes in contrast to fast fashion. It emphasizes ethical production, sustainable materials, and longevity, encouraging consumers to repair, reuse, and care for their garments instead of treating them as disposable.
“I think it’s important for us to support the weaves and these artisans that encourage them to continue the craft because I think with the commercialization of fashion and fast fashion, the craft is starting to die,” Quiñones added. He has spoken with the Philippines’ Department of Education about implementing the craft in school curricula and adapting to new technologies. He noted that although he is in favor of globalizing weaving, many weavers see it as a spiritual practice.
“We can preserve the culture and tradition, but at the same time, make a living.”
The event concluded with a runway show highlighting the two designers’ creations. After Lipat-Chesler opened the show by playing the kulintang, a gong-chime instrument, Bárû Mu took the stage, where Bustos’ family members modeled her contemporary, Filipino-inspired clothes, including the famous barong hoodie. Quiñones’ collection consisted of three parts, highlighting his feminine, classic style with a flair for sparkles.
In between sets, AVM performed hip-hop dances inspired by Filipino motifs, including wearing the salakot, a rice farmer’s hat. AVM also invited audience members to walk the runway to show off their own outfits.
Featured audience members included Jay R, a Filipino American R&B singer who was wearing Bárû Mu, and Stephanie Loredo, a Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) Governing Board Member and the first Filipino American elected official in the Westside of L.A. Loredo commented on how she uses her outfits as a representation of her homeland.
The evening was an homage to Filipino culture, emphasizing the importance of preserving tradition and uplifting community while inspiring creativity.
“Our government officials are mostly men who wear shirt-and-tie, and I wanted to wear my culture and mix it up with American styles too,” Loredo said, “I sometimes wear a puff sleeve Filipiniana-style with slacks.”