The runway fell quiet before the first step was taken. Then the College of Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics (CNND) walked Thank God It’s Fashion 2026 as its Second Best Fashion House shaped by study and steady hands, presenting a collection that traced Pamana through cut, proportion, and movement.
Thank God It’s Fashion, widely known on campus as TGIF, is an annual showcase of the University of San Agustin that transforms colleges into competing fashion houses. Each department assembles its own creative house of designers and models, producing original collections aligned with a unifying cultural theme. In previous years, the runway explored African influences and later returned to the Philippines with emphasis on Iloilo heritage. This year, under the theme Pamana, participants were called to examine inheritance in its many forms, from memory and material culture to identity shaped across generations.
CNND responded with a structured presentation across Street Wear, Haute Couture, and Avant-Garde maintaining continuity from the first walk to the final turn.
Street wear opened with designs by Rolex Andrew Barcelo and Angel Jane Baldonasa, translating familiar Filipino textile patterns into silhouettes built for motion. Dominated by white, the palette created a clean base where texture and construction took focus. Rope-like elements—whether thick cords or densely structured fabric strips—wrapped around the underlying fabric and side seams of both models. Both pieces were structured with tops paired against looser lower forms in shorts and wide straight pants. Joachim Delicana carried a modified boombox, grounding the look in contemporary street culture, while Lyka Orleans matched his pacing to allow the placement of seams and wrapped elements to register clearly.
Haute Couture followed with works by Jose Nicolas Lallab and James Aaron Apostol. Bodices maintained firm lines across the torso. A striking jet-black ensemble featured a sweeping cape composed of layered and meshed fabrics with masks embedded throughout the cape, with three prominently positioned at the front of the headpiece. The look was crowned with an elongated, wide-brimmed headpiece with textured frills inspired by the traditional salakot. In contrast, the female model emerged in red, crowned with flame-like wings that extended outward in a sharp, fluid line, an arresting counterpoint to the darkness of the cape. Brigide Cezar Arnedo and Chariz Athea Gorriceta modeled the garments with restraint, allowing structure and symbolism to register fully.
Avant-Garde concluded the sequence through the work of Jose Marion Tiania. The female model emerged in a rigid, disc-shaped skirt, resembling a hardened skirt that refused to fall. Its structure recalling tigkaralag, the thorned wild growth associated with undisturbed spaces and lingering spirits. Mostly white with red accents, the piece carried frilled textures and vein-like patterns that blurs into sloughing off dried petals that traced across her limbs like creeping thorns, while a sharp-edged headpiece radiated outward in disciplined spikes. Opposite her, the male model wore bat-like wings streaked in red extending from his back. Round ornaments bearing crescent moons were tied to hang in succession at his waist, moving subtly with each step, while a white fabric head covering draped loosely, punctuated with circular embellishments and trailing strings. Yves Jalandoni and Marielle De La Peña advanced with measured control, allowing the rigid forms, winged extensions, and thorned motifs to occupy space fully.
Throughout the show, the designers’ close involvement in the modeling process strengthened the presentation. The evening concluded with another department earning the overall championship, reflecting the high standard set across the runway. CNND recognized the achievement within an atmosphere defined by shared artistry and mutual respect.
CNND extends its heart and applauses as they carry their cheers to other departments for their passion in the art and walk of Pamana:
[STREET WEAR]
Male best model: COT
Female best model: COT
Best designer: COT
[HAUTE COUTURE]
Male best model: COT
Female best model: COT
Best designer: COT
[AVANT-GARDE]
Male best model: COT
Female best model: COT
Best designer: COT
OVERALL BEST FASHION HOUSE: HOUSE OF TEKNO (COT)
2nd BEST FASHION HOUSE: CNND
3rd BEST FASHION HOUSE: CPMT
On the TGIF stage, CNND offered a study of Pamana grounded in assembly and intention. The collection suggested that heritage continues through those willing to measure, cut, and carry it forward as one mind and one heart — one San Agustin.
