PUBLISHING DATE: SEPTEMBER 2015
(Original Submission)
FRESH FLAIR
Resuscitated staples injected with introspective craftsmanship: this encapsulates Carl Jan Cruz’s propelling fashion collection. Each piece reflects a rich, defined aesthetic unlikely spawned from someone in his quarterlife. But CJ, as he is fondly called, represents how experience transcends age, and how his openness to anatomize his passion continues to thrust his works in the limelight.
CJ recalls his first stint in the industry nine years ago. “I got bored being a full time all boys Catholic school student so I started out as a styling intern for Melvin Mojica,” he says. He was just a teen then, but it was no arbitrary decision. As a child, he was already into clothes, remembering his obsession over cycling shorts paired with a ribbed vest. This attachment to the industry’s core reflects on his choice of fashion icons, naming Azzedine Alaia, Rei Kawakubo, and Andre Walker as his top three. “They are all very independent and are honest with themselves.”
A British by citizenship, he moved back to London at 16. He studied Foundation in Art & Design, and later Fashion Design Technology Menswear, in one of London’s top design schools, London College of Fashion (LCF). Insatiate, he worked for Melissa Dizon-Ramsey’s Eairth as a menswear designer, Vivien Ramsey (New York) as a womenswear trend/style consultant, and interned with Céline’s 3D studio under Phoebe Philo (all these while still in LCF).
He debuted his LCF graduate collection 1/15 in front of the world’s fashion industry moguls. The honest, intimate, yet accessible menswear pieces, with fabrics sourced from the Philippines, are inspired by the everyday jeans-and-shirt uniform spun into a wholly original anthology. It got the industry talking, and all eyes have since shifted to CJ and his eponymous brand Carl Jan Cruz.
Now working on his 2015 collection 16/30, a continuation of 1/15, CJ has penned his brand as Honest-Luxuries. “I’m very reactive to my aesthetic through my current state. It’s reflective of being quite nowhere but everywhere culturally and aesthetically,” he adds. His discipline and hanker to hone his craft haven’t only opened up opportunities, these also founded his identity in one of the world’s largest industries. He ends, “It was a challenging time in [LCF]. I really learned the ethics of handwork and real craft. Interning for various houses made me realize how much I desire to create within this industry. A globalized kind, where in now it doesn’t really matter where you are and it’s more clear that what matters is what you do.”
FRESH FLAIR
Resuscitated staples injected with introspective craftsmanship: this encapsulates Carl Jan Cruz’s propelling fashion collection. Each piece reflects a rich, defined aesthetic unlikely spawned from someone in his quarterlife. But CJ, as he is fondly called, represents how experience transcends age, and how his openness to anatomize his passion continues to thrust his works in the limelight.
CJ recalls his first stint in the industry nine years ago. “I got bored being a full time all boys Catholic school student so I started out as a styling intern for Melvin Mojica,” he says. He was just a teen then, but it was no arbitrary decision. As a child, he was already into clothes, remembering his obsession over cycling shorts paired with a ribbed vest. This attachment to the industry’s core reflects on his choice of fashion icons, naming Azzedine Alaia, Rei Kawakubo, and Andre Walker as his top three. “They are all very independent and are honest with themselves.”
A British by citizenship, he moved back to London at 16. He studied Foundation in Art & Design, and later Fashion Design Technology Menswear, in one of London’s top design schools, London College of Fashion (LCF). Insatiate, he worked for Melissa Dizon-Ramsey’s Eairth as a menswear designer, Vivien Ramsey (New York) as a womenswear trend/style consultant, and interned with Céline’s 3D studio under Phoebe Philo (all these while still in LCF).
He debuted his LCF graduate collection 1/15 in front of the world’s fashion industry moguls. The honest, intimate, yet accessible menswear pieces, with fabrics sourced from the Philippines, are inspired by the everyday jeans-and-shirt uniform spun into a wholly original anthology. It got the industry talking, and all eyes have since shifted to CJ and his eponymous brand Carl Jan Cruz.
Now working on his 2015 collection 16/30, a continuation of 1/15, CJ has penned his brand as Honest-Luxuries. “I’m very reactive to my aesthetic through my current state. It’s reflective of being quite nowhere but everywhere culturally and aesthetically,” he adds. His discipline and hanker to hone his craft haven’t only opened up opportunities, these also founded his identity in one of the world’s largest industries. He ends, “It was a challenging time in [LCF]. I really learned the ethics of handwork and real craft. Interning for various houses made me realize how much I desire to create within this industry. A globalized kind, where in now it doesn’t really matter where you are and it’s more clear that what matters is what you do.”
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