The couturier recently launched her new studio and her first ready-to-wear collection inspired by her masterpieces from New York Fashion Week.
Filipinos have gone global in many ways in fashion. In the recent Fashion Weeks last September, celebrities like Liza Soberano and Anne Curtis brought their star power to Coach and Dior’s shows, Pia Wurtzbach wowed on the runway of L’Oreal Paris, while Heart Evangelista dazzled as a front-row staple of several luxury powerhouses.
Beyond the bright lights and glamour in the fashion industry’s most prestigious events, another Filipina turned the spotlight on the creativity and innovation that the country’s designers truly possess. We’re talking about couturier Andrea Tetangco, who debuted her spring/summer 2025 collection at the recent New York Fashion Week (NYFW) and later expanded it into her first ready-to-wear line.
Tetangco’s S/S25 collection, titled “Whispers of Summer,” debuted in New York on Sept. 7 and spoke of the season’s magic found in twilights, when the golden sun sets below the horizon and creates a faint ombré glow in the sky.
The result is a set of long dresses, jumpsuits, coordinates, and gowns in neutral and pastel palettes that are cool to the eye. Soft, feminine silhouettes come with a playful twist, from big ruffles and scattered petals to head-to-toe dot patterns. Textures range from sheer to silk that all shimmer with the light of summer.
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Tetangco was one of the six Filipino designers who showcased her skills at NYFW through FilipiNxt, a platform that brings Filipino designers to the global stage, particularly in New York. “I’m very honored to be part of New York Fashion Week and to showcase Filipino designs abroad,” Tetangco told The POST and other media outlets at the launch of her new RTW line. “To be recognized in New York is also a great opportunity for the brand.”
While the designer is grateful that her New York show enabled her to showcase the potential of Filipino talent, it was also through this experience that she developed a better appreciation for the opportunities our own country provides for local designers. She explained, “New York is a big space, and you can’t have a platform there just because you did a show. You would still need to build your name. That is why, for me, there’s still more equity in the Philippines.”
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With that in mind, Tetangco sees to it that she seizes every opportunity that comes her way, no matter where she is. Just last Wednesday, Nov. 20, the couturier launched her new boutique, Atelier Andrea Tetangco, in Kirov Tower in Rockwell, Makati, along with her first-ever RTW line.
Tetangco, who has been in the fashion industry for 17 years, said that she relocated her studio from Wack-Wack Greenhills, San Juan to Rockwell because she had long wanted to move to Makati, which is considered a “prime location” for designers and businesses. Last year, she “had the opportunity to get the spot.”
The couturier’s new studio features sophisticated minimalist interiors with dark gray walls enclosing the space and floor-to-ceiling glass windows giving guests a peek into Tetangco’s lush collections by the entrance. There was barely any furniture during the boutique’s launch except for a white divan couch placed against the glass walls and a sleek reception counter a few steps from the entrance. This simple layout allows guests to focus their attention on Tetangco’s collections of over 30 intricately designed tops, dresses, coordinates, and gowns hanging on the studio’s gold display racks.
Tetangco’s new RTW lineup is front and center of the vast collection and comprises sheer blouses and tops made eye-catching with petals and frills, silk empire-cut mini dresses bedecked with seed pearls at the top, and blazers jazzed up with ostrich fur, among many others. Like the couturier’s S/S25 collection, her catalog of RTW ensembles is cool to the eye with its light pastel palette.
“It is inspired by my spring/summer 2025 collection, so I made this an extension of that. It features exquisite details, hand-picked luxurious materials I get from my own suppliers and you won’t see in other brands,” Tetangco said at last week’s event.
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The designer considers every piece in her RTW line her favorite, as they all bring to life the “picture of the details I really like,” she said. Everything in the collection is a “timeless piece with statement details,” in true Andrea Tetangco fashion.
Her aesthetic is classic with a contemporary twist, which allows her to put equal amounts of hard work into other aspects of her masterpieces. She explained, “When you’re young and you design, you put everything unnecessary in your piece. But as you grow, you’d rather aim for quality, comfort, what the client needs, and everything that suits your customer.”
“It’s not just about the design but everything in your piece—the workmanship, quality, materials, the fit, and all that. It’s a package, not just the design,” she added.
Tetangco’s dreamy RTW collection, like the rest of her offerings, draws inspiration from women “because you meet women every day.” It took her six months to create the line, but in actuality, the couturier’s venture into RTW had long begun 17 years ago.
Tetangco started her career at a consignment space in Rockwell while she was still studying in college. “There’s a space for designers who sell ready-to-wear clothes that come in few pieces only, not mass-produced. At that time, I was getting demands to make custom pieces. And that brought me to custom-made fashion,” she recounted. “I decided to stay with custom-made because 17 years ago, there was no demand for custom-made designers.”
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Having discovered her calling to become a couturier, Tetangco later expanded to include bridal wear in her collection. Almost two decades later, the designer decided to continue where she left off in RTW fashion but this time, in her very own boutique.
The reason is that it is only now that society has come to love designer, custom-made clothes as everyday wear. “I think now, we dress up outside the box, not just for special occasions. People have begun dressing up for brunch, lunch, and going to the mall. So the market now has changed,” Tetangco said, noting that this is partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic when people were only confined to their homes.
“I believe dressing up, especially after the pandemic, makes us feel good. Dressing up right now is self-love and as consumers, you just want that feeling. It’s unlike before when you only dress up for big, big events,” she added. “That’s why I made the ready-to-wear collection, so women now can wear me, or my designs, not just on special occasions.”
Besides her fondness for soft feminine looks, Tetangco stays true to her style by always aiming to produce high-quality pieces that will truly suit the needs and wants of women today. She elaborated, “I think my consistency is about the quality, the workmanship, and understanding more about the market. If you’re in this industry, you learn more about the consumers, what they need, what they don’t, what’s selling, what’s not, and things like that.”
“But style, it’s always evolving. You can’t stay in the same design you’ve used five years ago,” she continued. “It’s really about adjusting to the market, but remaining with my brand DNA, which is timeless with contemporary details.”
The couturier believes that a “good outfit makes us feel good” and that it is in high-quality ensembles that she is able to give credence to the purpose of fashion. “My purpose as a designer is not just to make dresses, but I also want to make women feel confident. I want to give them the feeling of being empowered and happy in themselves.”
Asked what kept her going in the industry, Tetangco replied, “I believe that this is the only thing I can do my best, so I might as well give it my best. I can’t see myself doing anything else. So if you are given one opportunity, you grab it and work hard for it.”
