It has been a while since I first wrote about my favorite fashion designers. All of them were either Filipino and/or based in the Philippines. Keep in mind that there is cultural diversity in that country. There are Philippine citizens who are ethnically Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and other ethnicities.
Speaking of other ethnicities, I will bring up more of my favorite designers. This time, they’re from different countries. I celebrate diversity on and off the internet, and part of celebrating diversity is celebrating talented people throughout the globe.
Kiyoko Hata
Hailing from Japan, Kiyoko’s work mainly consists of ball gowns. They are really pretty, with the patterns ranging from shimmering glitter to solid colors, flowers, and other interesting prints. I haven’t seen another designer with a portfolio consisting of predominantly ball gowns, much less a designer who makes so many fantabulous ball gowns. You don’t have to be Cinderella or Belle to wear a magical ball gown.
Teuta Matoshi
Whew girl. I found her through randomly seeing a wedding dress on my IG timeline, which I loved, and wondering who the designer was. When I first looked at her Instagram page, I was immediately sucked into a rabbit hole. I had spent at least a couple of hours glancing at and enamoring her work. There are so many of her dresses in my Fashion Inspos collection. If I were a celebrity, I would wear her dresses at different events, especially when hosting one. Matoshi is based in Kosovo, which is a disputed territory located in Southeast Europe.
While multiple dress styles with the same print are present, some of her work is sure to catch your eye. You don’t have to take my word for it. There are so many dresses I could share here, but then this article would be too long. See just a few of my faves for yourself! The first photo below is the wedding dress I referred to.
Mark Bumgarner
Did you think that this list was not going to include any Filipino designers this time? Understandable, but you are wrong. Bumgarner is another designer from the Philippines. He has dressed Filipina celebrities such as Laura Lehmann, Heart Evangelista, and Anne Curtis. No, I did not include him just for the sake of including another Filipino designer. Although I do think Filipino designers deserve much more recognition. No lie. He has some fashion that I would wear, and I especially love the dresses he created for Laura’s Miss World Philippines candidacy. Let me not forget to show the dress he made for her to wear at Miss World.
Anaz
This is the designer who has created some of my favorite pageant gowns. He created the red dress for the Indonesian Miss Universe 2018 delegate Sonia Fergina Citra. He made a simplistic yet interesting rainbow gem dress for the Chilean Miss Universe 2019 delegate Geraldine Gonzalez. Nearly 7 months later, I still don’t understand why Geraldine didn’t finish as a finalist. Though that’s a separate topic.
He also made that precious white gown for Indonesia’s Miss International 2019 delegate Jolene Marie Cholock. If you read my article on my favorite pageant gowns, you have seen the dress. If not, don’t worry. The link to that article is below. In the meantime, here’s a peak at his work, including the pageant gowns I just mentioned.
Virgilio Madinah
The first Latino designer I have mentioned, Virgilio Madinah is from Colombia (not Columbia, COLOMBIA). Located in the country’s capital, Bogotá, Madinah has dressed those like Señorita Colombia Gabriela Tafur, who finished top 5 at Miss Universe 2019, and Natalia Carvajal, who finished top 10 at Miss Universe 2018 as Costa Rica’s delegate. He’s also dressed male celebrities such as Sebastian Yatra and Maluma. And I must say, he has some work I admire. I love Gabriela’s final walk gown (the green gown shown above) and the white jumpsuit shown below.
Honorable Mention: Maritza Mendoza
Not far from Colombia, Peru is home to Maritza Mendoza and her studio. She created Kelin Rivera’s Miss Universe evening gown, which is another dress I mentioned in the article linked below. I liked that and several of her other pieces. Not as big in number as other designers I’ve mentioned, but still really nice nonetheless. I would definitely wear the fashion pieces shown below.
Shoutout to three Thai clothing brands
Since there are no other designers in my favorites list right now, I want to mention three Thai clothing brands that have fashion I love.
GL GarlateDesign
Based in Bangkok, they have dressed Thai beauty pageant candidates, mainly the ones who competed in the Miss Grand Thailand pageant. Many of the dresses are attractive, and the first dress shown below is what I would wear when made Goldeen. In other words, make the dress orange instead of blue.
POEM
Also based in Bangkok, they have dressed Thai celebrities. I first heard of them when I saw former Miss Universe Thailand Aniporn Chalermburanawong wear one of their mini dresses (shown above). I love some of their other minidresses. Their Thai Silk dress and cheongsam dress (qipao) are dresses I would wear while on a press tour in Thailand and China. And yes, I would wear them with respect.
Unkuniya
Rounding out this article is Unkuniya, a clothing line from Bangkok. Unsurprisingly, all of the Thai clothing brands are based in Bangkok. They have dressed Thai pageant queens, including Miss Universe Thailand 2019 Paweensuda Drouin, who is also known as Fahsai. Speaking of Fahsai, I love the dress that was created for her. I would totally wear that. Just put some red lipstick, fake eyelashes, eyeliner, and some jewelry on me, and I would look fantabulous! I don’t even need foundation! That’s a topic for another day, but I could wear the dresses below and look really bomb.
And that concludes the roll call! If there happens to be any more designers I love in the future, I’ll do a third take. Regardless, a second take on my favorite beauty pageant gowns will be coming in the near future.
Image Credits: Instagram (kiyoko_hata)
“My Favorite Fashion Designers” Article: https://sweetsimplicity16.com/my-favorite-fashion-designers/
