Gloria, Emerson Charles

Gloria, Emerson Charles
@withloveemerph / @proyekto.emersonchrls

Sirena is an art wear collection that serves as a love letter to my younger self — the little Emer who dreamed freely, lost in mermaid tales and make-believe worlds. It captures the meeting point of childhood fantasy and feminine self-discovery, where innocence transforms into empowerment. Inspired by the Birth of Venus, the pieces embody fluidity, grace, and strength, mirroring the ocean’s ever-changing beauty. Through soft, flowing silhouettes, delicate textures, and iridescent hues, the collection blurs the line between reality and imagination. At its heart, Sirena is a celebration of self-expression — a reminder that creativity, like the sea, is boundless, transformative, and deeply personal.

Emerson Charles Gloria is a young queer Filipino designer whose work blurs the boundaries between fashion and art, weaving identity into every seam. Guided by emotion and introspection, his creations become vessels of storytelling—where memory, imagination, and selfhood intertwine. Deeply influenced by his roots and early fascination with visual culture, Emerson approaches design as a form of healing and becoming. His process embraces fluidity and experimentation, allowing vulnerability to coexist with strength. Through his work, he redefines fashion as a space for authenticity—a quiet rebellion where creativity and identity flow freely.

The most challenging part of designing this collection was figuring out how to build an entire body of work from a very simple starting point—my inspiration initially came only from “Venus” by Lady Gaga and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. After a year of thinking about what would truly represent the culmination of my time in FDM, I realized I wanted to go back to my childhood, to the younger version of myself who first dreamed of taking this course, making the collection feel like a full-circle moment. Pushing through this challenge taught me a lot about myself, as I rediscovered old interests and became more aware of what I genuinely love as a designer. Surprisingly, the part that challenged me the most—creating the collection—also became my favorite stage of the process. Curating the collection and building its identity allowed me to freely explore silhouettes, styles, and fabrics, while reconnecting with the media, memories, and childhood sketches that brought a sense of nostalgia and made the process deeply personal.