May 01, 2015 – NEXT month, piña gowns with artworks of Filipinos with autism will go international as they will be part of several fashion shows in the United States and Europe.

Launching the Fashion Arts Autism Benefit (FAAB) project during the 8th World Autism Awareness DayCelebration at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall, Solinda Bautista, Autism Hearts Philippines Director, said piña gowns with hand paintings of Filipinos with autism will be featured in several fashion shows lined up this year starting next month in the United States and Europe.

Bautista said this will be the first time that artworks of people with autism will be featured in gowns in a fashion show.

The FAAB launching was made possible in partnership with SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Bautista said the project started when the idea was broached by Erlinda Borromeo to US-based Filipino designer Anthony Legarda on the need to showcase paintings made by children with autism. Legarda, who is also a textile technologist, suggested that the piña fabric should be used a canvass for their artworks since it is indigenous to the Philippines.

“We want to showcase Filipino products and Filipino ingenuity. And were are not just talking ordinary talent here but extraordinary gifts coming from very special people,” Legarda said.

With his design, the participants underwent a workshop under visual artist and piña cloth expert Anna India Legaspi to teach them the basic techniques of painting on piña cloth. Legaspi said only after a three-hour session, the participants, namely Vico Cham, Nick Huang, Ralph Sy and Nina Bartolo, not only learned the basic of painting on piña cloth but they were already making their own rendition of the designs themselves.

“They learned so fast. We only needed one session and they were doing their own thing. It was such an amazing experience especially for me,” Legaspi said.

So far, the workshops have produced several notable art pieces which will be made into several gowns by Legarda. Three of the gowns that will be made will be featured in the fashion show he will have in May in Los Angeles.

In June this year, all the gowns will also be featured in fashion shows to be held in San Francisco during the World Autism Awareness Day and then in New York during the United Nations Forum