It’s Coachella time! A closer look at Bini and their dancers’ looks, featuring work by Filipino designer Renan Pacson

The exchange between them is built on trust. Some brief notes arrive, often stripped down to references or cropped images, which leave space for interpretation. Pacson, back then, worked from his base outside Manila in Nueva Ecija while Villanueva moved across production spaces and schedules. The coordination happens across distance, shaped by timing and availability, with ideas circulating until they settle into a cohesive image.

When Coachella entered the picture, that working method stayed in place. Pacson was assigned the dancers’ (who hailed from different Filipino elite troupes) costumes, while another team handled Bini’s main looks. (He also designed Bini’s outfits in between Coachella events, like their Flowerovlove appearance.) The assignment carried its own limits in time and scope, with around a month from briefing to completion. “I was excited for half a day,” he says, “and then I had to work.”

The brief arrived in simple terms, with “sea, earth, land and water” as guiding ideas, according to Pacson. The direction could have led toward costume in a theatrical sense, yet the designer turned elsewhere. He moved through Quiapo and Divisoria, spaces where his creativity is heavily inspired. He observes, walks and returns with references drawn from what he sees. “I usually have a day or two just to absorb the materials,” he says.

What he brings back are cues instead of fixed motifs. Lambat, uling, coconut, mother of pearl—you name it. Each one is considered for its behaviour on the body, its weight and its response to movement. “There’s a story behind all the details,” he says, “the materials I saw, how they are used.”

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The construction of the garments follows testing and adjustment in sequence. The pieces are built, reviewed and altered until they respond to movement. Of course, the conditions of Coachella also shape these decisions, from the heat in the desert and long hours of performance to the need for comfort across choreography. His silhouettes remain open in structure, built for adjustment and change during wear. “You don’t have to fit everything,” he says. “It can be adjusted on the spot.” 

Pacson’s references reach back to Japanese design and fashion, particularly Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake. Those influences remain visible in proportion and attitude toward form, where irregularity becomes part of the outfits. “I would always really have this wabi-sabi kind of thing, something not perfect but is beautiful,” he explains. Over time, this has merged with his interest in Filipino materials, including mother-of-pearl and reclaimed metal, which is mostly seen in his work nowadays.

He also adds, “Even if I do Filipiniana, there’s still a twist of streetwear to it.” The question he returns to often is simple: Why can Filipiniana in a modern form not exist outside of expected frames? “Why can’t we be Filipiniana in a modern way?” he asks. This idea ultimately led him to create the renowned Utiliterno, a utilitarian reinterpretation of the traditional Filipino terno.

On stage, his works register through movement and distance. Whether it may be a shift in fabric that catches light or a surface detail that appears and recedes as the dancers move. The references are there. “If you look deeper, there’s a whole thought process behind it,” he says.

Coachella sits within his practice as one point among many. The work continues beyond it, moving into new commissions and ongoing collaborations. “It should always be the next work,” he says, especially when asked about his biggest achievement.

As Bini and their dancers perform, their garments respond to motion, holding shape through movement and adjustment. Each and every designer’s work holds together through use, wear and time.

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