MANILA, Philippines -- While the champagne carpet glittered with Filipinianas reborn, barongs reimagined, and couture cut from native fabrics, the night's real spotlight fell on the visionaries steering Filipino fashion.
Held on September 2 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City, the Preview Ball doubled as a milestone moment: the magazine's 30th year and the crowning of its September cover girl, Anne Curtis-Smith, styled in looks by the Best Filipino Fashion Designer awardees who filled the issue's pages.
Other honorees for the much-anticipated Best Dressed List were not just well-dressed attendees, but culture-shapers in their own right: stylists weaving the old with the new.
The fashion magazine also championed the people behind the vision -- the makers, risk-takers, and tastemakers who push the industry forward. From ateliers to runways, and from social platforms to stages, this year's Best Filipino Fashion Designers and Best Dressed winners reflect how far Philippine fashion has come.
Trained in clothing technology at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Nina Amoncio -- who designs under the name ANTONINA -- has built a label that thrives on memory and introspection. Her work, recently plastered all over the pages of Preview's June pride issue, often channels personal experiences into garments that balance precision and playfulness, whether in threadwork, prints, or the bold use of texture.
A product of the Bench Design Awards, she presented her first collection at Amazon Fashion Week in Tokyo, a milestone that introduced her to the global stage while affirming her distinctly personal approach. Her eternally clean collections, from the childhood-inspired "'96" to the shadow-driven "ANINO," reveal a designer unafraid of sentimentality but always anchored in strong technical construction.
Today, she continues to push forward with ready-to-wear lines and celebrity styling, converging personal narrative and commercial appeal in garments that feel both intimate and resonant.
From nursing student to award-winning designer, Jaggy Glarino's journey is defined by instinct and reinvention. Entirely self-taught at first, he pieced together his knowledge from YouTube tutorials and thrifted garments before earning mentorships and scholarships, including a short course at London's Central Saint Martins.
His work under maisonGLARINO's is unmistakably avant-garde: a refusal to confine masculinity, an embrace of layered silhouettes, and a palette of bold colors and multi-dimensional constructions.
What makes Glarino remarkable is how he grounds experimentation in culture and sustainability. A finalist for the Sustasia Fashion Prize, he has worked with Filipino weaving traditions and solihiya patterns, even reimagining ghost nets into high fashion.
His work has dressed global figures such as Catriona Gray, Pia Wurtzbach, and Kathryn Bernardo. His intuitive, unconventional, and often sketch-free process can yield designs that are as daring as they are wearable.
Based in Cebu, Axel Que has earned renown as one of the Philippines' foremost avant-garde designers. A graduate of Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines and later the Fashion Institute of the Philippines, Que has carved her place in history with creations that straddle art and fashion.
Her meticulous, sculptural designs have found their most visible platform in national costumes worn by beauty queens -- from Beatrice Luigi Gomez's serpentine Bakunawa-inspired look at Miss Universe 2021 to Marina Summers' "bangus" ensemble on RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World.
But beneath the feathers and fantasy lies impeccable construction; her pieces require an expert army of 15 artisans and endless hours of handwork. Axel dreams of the Met Gala, but her runway is already a mythological universe where Filipino imagination reigns supreme.
With a foundation in fine arts from Far Eastern University and years of training at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines, Renz Reyes brings a rare rigor to his work. For over a decade, he honed his craft at Josie Natori, eventually becoming head of the design team -- a role that gave him deep knowledge of luxury fabric manipulation, embroidery, and the production process.
His own brand, launched while working full-time, is marked by "haphazard yet polished" aesthetics that merge intricate embroidery with unconventional tailoring.
Reyes has already showcased at Tokyo Fashion Week as part of his Bench Design Awards win, and in 2020 he was a finalist at TernoCon under the mentorship of Lesley Mobo. Now working independently, the designer has a forthcoming Milan presentation looming on the horizon.
No one tells a story with a barong quite like Kelvin Morales. Since launching his label fresh out of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, he's been rewriting what modern Filipino menswear can look like, and even who it's worn by.
His pieces are cinematic, experimental, and proudly Filipino: taho vendors stitched into tops, florals blooming across sheer panels, and textures that make you look twice, or even thrice, to grasp each detail.
Always collaborating with local artisans, especially embroiderers in Rizal, Morales proves that preserving endangered crafts doesn't mean being stuck in the past. Instead, he pulls heritage into the future, one modernized national dresswear at a time.
Actor and model Brent Manalo has been steadily carving a path across screens and campaigns alike, balancing his film work with a growing presence in the fashion circuit. Fresh from his Pinoy Big Brother win, he's landed endorsements with luxury and streetwear brands that tap into his effortlessly youthful, boyishly laidback charisma.
On the champagne carpet, Brent represents the next wave of matinee idols who treat fashion not just as styling but as a platform for identity. His collaborations with Filipino designers show a willingness to push past safe heartthrob territory, bringing freshness to the ball's "homegrown" theme.
Michelle Dee knows how to make an entrance, and she does it on her own terms. Her style is fearless, artful, and intentional, always rooted in a deep love for storytelling. Whether she's taking risks on global stages or championing local designers, her fashion choices are about wearing her values more so than merely wearing her gowns.
Many are enamored by her distinct presence, which breaks the daintily feminine mold that beauty queens are often boxed into. She carries herself with androgyny, queerness, and unapologetic individuality, asserting that authenticity is the ultimate sign of glamor.
In Michelle's hands, fashion becomes a canvas and a megaphone at once, amplifying a message of pride, artistry, and fearlessness.
Award-winning actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith has long preferred simplicity over spectacle, letting her minimalist aesthetic do the talking. For her, fashion is not about bending to expectation but about staying grounded in authenticity. She's candid about gravitating toward basics -- pieces that can be reworked, reimagined, and worn with ease. That understated confidence mirrors her career choices: deliberate, diverse, and thoughtful.
Gearing up for new projects on GMA and in film, Jasmine brings the same sensibility to both her craft and her closet: grow constantly, but never lose sight of yourself.
Drag artist Versex is the very definition of fashion as fearless self-expression. From the streets of Sta. Ana, to the global stage of Drag Race Philippines, she's carved out a persona where performance and fashion collapse into one unapologetic identity.
Grit, maximalism, and sensuality define her aesthetic, but her deeper philosophy is about refusing polish in favor of raw, lived-in authenticity.
Versex's style affirms that Filipino fashion is not about homogeneity but hybridity, draped in an unfiltered mix of influences and reimagined through local grit. Her presence on the Best Dressed list signals a celebration of drag's long-held, but also long-unrecognized, impact on culture: bold, subversive, and stylishly unstoppable.
As founder of The Sixth Sense, Dom Canlas has become the country's resident "archive king," turning his sharp eye for vintage and designer rarities into a movement. His curations -- and his own refined, East Asian-inspired personal style -- make the case for fashion as both collectible and wearable. Clean lines, timeless silhouettes, and artisanal details anchor his sartorial philosophy.
But Dom is also part of a generation reshaping fashion discourse online. Through his reels and commentary, he democratizes what might otherwise feel untouchable, reminding his audience that great style is about instinct, not hype.
Interior designer and Moss Design House co-founder Cyndi Fernandez-Beltran has built her reputation on creating spaces that balance structure and soul -- a sensibility that extends to her wardrobe. She treats dressing as a declaration that femininity and power are not oppositional but complementary.
Her inclusion in this year's list highlights the synergy between fashion and interiors, and how Filipino creativity thrives across disciplines.
Shar Cabigas' journey from psychology graduate to jewelry entrepreneur is as dazzling as her designs. As co-founder of Suki Jewelry, she has carved out a niche for accessible luxury: fine jewelry designed to last lifetimes but styled for everyday wear.
For Shar, accessories are not afterthoughts peripheral to one's garments, but vital tools for deeper self-expression.
Motherhood has only deepened her intuitive approach to style, teaching her to trust her instincts and embrace freedom in dressing. Whether through her brand or her personal philosophy, Shar proves that jewelry -- and fashion at large -- gains meaning when it carries both heritage and honesty.
Few stylists have shaped the visual language of modern Filipino celebrity fashion as much as John Lozano. With over two decades in the industry, his work behind the camera and the runway has defined the looks of some of the country's biggest names.
For John, style is about knowing yourself and embracing evolution. He argues that Filipino fashion identity should be expansive, not restrictive; a "homegrown" style is just as valid in denim and leather as in piña and terno. His recognition here isn't just a nod to personal taste but to the often-invisible labor of stylists who push the industry forward.
Actor, host, swimmer, and now fashion icon, Enchong Dee approaches style with the same discipline he's brought to his many roles. Early in his career, he saw fashion as something dictated by others; today, he embraces it as a collaborative and deeply personal process. His playful yet modern take on menswear reflects a confidence earned over years of experimentation.
Still a co-host on ASAP Natin 'To and fresh from his role in Outside, this mainstay of Philippine entertainment has been using his platform to advocate for Filipino designers. And, on the night of the Preview Ball, he receives his flowers for long championing fashion as cultural representation.
Maja Salvador has spent over two decades epitomizing her versatility -- as the country's Dance Princess, as a powerhouse actress, and as a perennial style star. Whether commanding a stage or inhabiting a TV drama, she's always matched performance with polish.
Fresh from an industry hiatus she took to raise her daughter, Maja's star only continues to evolve, but one thing remains constant: her ability to command attention the moment she walks into a room.