Inspired by the successful outcome of the 1st and 2nd TERNOCON, a terno making convention and competition held last November 2018 and January 2020 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the CCP through its Cultural Exchange Department (CED) and Bench/Suyen Corporation join efforts again to pursue its mission of preserving and promoting the Philippine dress with the implementation of TERNOCON 3.
The 3rd edition aims to encourage the use of the terno / balintawak as a popular form of dress; to inspire and motivate emerging designers to create ternos that are at par with the construction skills of professional designers; to encourage dialogue and scholarly discussion of issues concerning the Philippine dress; and to sustain the growing awareness and interest in the Philippine dress. The competition is open to practicing Filipino designers or fashion design students who are at least 20 years of age. A total of 12 finalists will be chosen from the open applications, and they are expected to create one balintawak each.
To help the finalists understand the historical and social context of the balintawak and the Philippine dress in general, a series of lectures was conducted via zoom on April 23-24, 2022.
The lecture topics included The Balintawak: Evolution, Context, & Components; A Designer’s Creative Process; Filipinas Who Wear the Terno; Wearing One’s Heart On One’s Sleeve. The lecturers are some of the country’s foremost artists and experts in design and history, led by Ternocon artistic director Gino Gonzales with social historian Isidra Reyes, fashion designer Lesley Mobo and writer and historian Felice Sta. Maria. Ternocon Chief Mentor Inno Sotto will also deliver a special message for all participants.
All applicants to Ternocon 3 were asked to attend the two-day zoom lectures while the finalists from Ternocon 1 & 2, those who attended the regional workshops of Fashioning the Terno, and the former mentors were invited to attend as well.
After the lectures, the screening and selection of the 12 finalists will follow, and then a week-long workshop and mentoring for the 12 finalists are set for July and October 2022. The final competition and cultural show are slated for January 28, 2023.
For more information, visit the CCP website, FB pages of Ternocon, CCP Cultural Exchange Department and Bench or email at ccp.ced2014@gmail.com.
