DAVAO CITY – President-elect Rodrigo R. Duerte has a dozen pairs of customized barong Tagalog, each costs about P6,500, designed by a 42-year old haberdashery here for his inauguration on June 30.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Bonie Adaza, a designer at the Chardin, said in an interview Thursday that each of the 12 barong sports a different embroidery designs inspired by the patterns of the unique tribal costumes of Mindanao.
“What we are preparing are customized embroidery. It has a Mindanawon touch for the reason that we will showcase where we are from and to show that we are proud Mindanawon,” he said.
Adaza said he has been designing barong for Duterte since 2009 but this is the first-time that he is incorporating Mindanao’s ethnic cultures into his creation.
In making the designs, Adaza said he made sure that he’d only stay with the three dimensional colors for barong – beige, ecru, and darker brown – that would seem fit to Duterte’s simple fashion sense.
Each design took him about a day to finish, he said, but he gets help from fellow designer Chard Pulache.
Incoming Presidential spokesperson told a press conference on Wednesday that Duterte, who detested wearing fancy and itchy outfits, does not want any bright colors to his “barong.”
But the material they used to make the barong was from a synthetic fiber jusi while his pants are made from pure cotton to make it more comfortable for the 72-year old Duterte who is mayor of Davao City for 22 years.
At least six pairs have already been delivered to Duterte while the remaining six are currently being rushed but Duterte might not use any of them as he has some old barong he could use in his cabinet, he said. (Antonio Colina)