Everything You Missed from Day 1 of Bench Fashion Week Holiday 2026

The biannual Bench Fashion Week opened its Holiday 2026 on the evening of Saturday, September 26. Held at the SPACE at One Ayala, the first day was headlined by rising and established names alike: Renee De Guzman of R. STUDIOS, eveningwear designer Bryan Peralta, and Cebuano “fashion architect” Edwin Ao.

In more ways than one, the evening’s presentations captured the spirit of joyful dressing. The runway exploded with color, a harmony of contrasting elements, and generously tactile accents.

Ahead, we give a brief rundown of the collections that graced the runway of Bench Fashion Week Holiday 2026 Day 1.

The evening opened with a ready-to-wear showcase featuring three international fashion retailers.

Korean brand 8seconds captured the ease of fashion-forward, utilitarian dressing. Technical jackets met flowing, gauzy skirts; clean sweaters paired with hardworking denim; and light trenches made their way into the mix.

Urban Revivo, meanwhile, drew inspiration from Y2K city dressing. Raglan tees, tartan prints, mini skirts, and lived-in denim made up much of the collection, bringing back familiar elements of early-2000s street style.

Cotton On turned to the many ways people dress in the city. Its lineup ranged from sporty, varsity-inspired outfits to casual staples, trend-savvy ensembles, and practical everyday pieces.

After participating in the 2025 Bench Design Awards, Renee De Guzman made her runway debut at Bench Fashion Week with her first full-fledged collection.

Titled “Paloma,” the young designer takes inspiration from Pablo Picasso’s 1957 “The Pigeon” series. Renee draws on the Spanish painter’s use of color, abstract forms, and natural imagery to create clothes that evoke a childlike sense of curiosity and playfulness.

A rush of colors and textures greeted the audience as the show opened. Feather trims, structured tweeds, zesty hues, and lively prints appeared across draped frocks, lustrous shirts, and geometric outerwear.

Despite the abundance of visual elements, the design rookie shows a nuanced understanding of restraint, balancing contrasting details through careful study of proportion. Her command of volume and composition allows even the most conflicting elements to come together cohesively.

R. STUDIOS is a contemporary brand in every sense, in that it is able to propose a wardrobe full of its offerings. Equally mesmerizing was the accessories department— from the shoes, bags, and especially the hammered metal ties.

For years, Bryan Peralta has been known for his bridal and eveningwear creations. For his Bench Fashion Week outing, however, the designer gives himself room to explore a different creative direction.

Titled “The Golden Record,” the collection draws inspiration from NASA’s 1977 Voyager mission, which sent two space probes to gather information about the outer planets of the solar system. Each spacecraft carried a 12-inch gold-plated copper disc containing sounds and images intended to introduce Earth to potential extraterrestrial life. To this day, the probes continue to float through space, carrying these records beyond our solar system.

“The collection is about my imagination of how an alien civilization finds the golden records,” Bryan shared in a video interview with Bench before the show. “In my head, this is how these aliens will try and dress up to assimilate [with us] when they find the discs.”

A wide-eyed sense of wonder runs through the collection, evident in the way its garments are constructed. Vivid hues are paired through color blocking and layering, while diaphanous fabrics form billowing silhouettes. Lightweight materials gain texture through draping and ruching, adding dimension to the otherwise fluid designs.

The full spectrum of colors also recalls 1970s disco fever, with its exuberant approach to dressing. Voluminous ensembles are designed to come alive in motion, while the clean lines and streamlined silhouettes keep the proportions in check.

With “The Golden Record,” Bryan Peralta explores an otherworldly approach to dressing that is both imaginative and expressive. Its futuristic vision and vivid palette bring playfulness to the runway without alienating the viewer. Instead, the collection offers an optimistic take on dressing, inviting a more adventurous approach to color and volume.

Edwin Ao is touted as the “master architect of Philippine fashion.” With a decade of experience, the Cebu-based designer has established a distinct design language characterized by deconstructed suiting, razor-sharp tailoring, and a materials-first approach to garment construction.

For his Bench Fashion Week 2026 collection, Edwin explores the human body as an ever-changing entity. Titled “Chlorophyll Hexagons: The Body in Impermanence,” the collection uses solar prints as its primary narrative device.

“On fabric, nature leaves its trace; on the body, impermanence becomes visible,” his show notes read. “Each garment emerges as a record of exposure and evolution, celebrating the beauty of letting go.”

Drawing on street photography captured on his smartphone, Edwin deconstructs and reconstructs the suit, introducing tactile details and graphic elements into his designs. Traditional suiting components are reworked into skirts and jackets with off-kilter silhouettes.

A gritty and subversive attitude pulses throughout the collection. Rather than treating materials as they are, the designer manipulates and assembles them into entirely new forms— a testament to his world-building approach to fashion.

His exploration of materiality is particularly evident in the accordion-like skirts. Paired with cropped feather-gray blazers, these form-skimming pieces fan out and expand with movement. Composed of fragments of various solar prints, the skirt renders a sense of fluidity nonetheless.

Beyond reimagining the traditional suit, Edwin introduces kitsch and irreverence into the presentation of his garments. Perhaps this subversive attitude is Edwin’s answer to the suit's ephemerality—which, in some way, speaks to the transient nature of humans.

Photos by Kurt Villagracia. Videos shot by Greeko Joy Junio, assisted by Gerry Oribeda Jr. Video editing by Bea Felice Panganiban.