Convicts contribute to haute couture

The sprawling New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa to the south of the Philippine capital is known for holding the country’s most notorious and hard-core convicts.

What is less known is that fashion has recently found itself a place inside the 551-hectare compound here.

Since more than a year ago, every Tuesday, some 40 inmates from the maximum-security section sit face-to-face with one of Manila’s haute couture designers to learn how to bead and hand-paint fancy evening gowns and formal attire.

Puey Quinones, who introduced fashion to people behind bars, managed to bring the works of New Bilibid inmates to celebrity weddings and red carpet events of upper society.

Quinones said that at first he was afraid to tell his clients who actually painted the gowns. But later on, the very fact that prison inmates created the design was what drove the demand.

"My clients loved it because of its beauty and uniqueness. And they wanted to help the rehabilitation program," the designer said.

Quinones, now one of the country’s most sought-after designers, said he and his special students are looking at exporting hand-painted shawls and wraps to Europe.

Quinones said the prison fashion creativity module didn’t come about easily. The New Bilibid was originally looking for a tailor, and as a professional designer, Quinones didn’t think he fit the job.

But Quinones’ uncle, who was involved in prison rehabilitation projects, persuaded the recognized designer to come. "It took him two months to convince me to even visit the New Bilibid," Quinones told Xinhua in a recent interview inside the prison compound.

"When I first came in here, I was literally shaking. I couldn’t talk. I would be asked questions and all I could do was either shake or nod my head," Quinones said, adding that interacting with people like convicted murderers, rapists and kidnappers scared him a great deal.

Quinones said he remained non-committal after the first try, but the excitement of teaching inmates to learn about fashion won out.

Two weeks later, Quinones returned full steam to the Fashion Creativity workshop, and started teaching the inmates T- shirt painting.

"I was amazed at their talent. A lot of inmates are self-taught; some were artists before coming to the New Bilibid."

Quinones said he simply re-directed the inmates’ artistic talents to fashion, from drawing depressing and typical prison scenes like bars or crucifixes.

To further tap the artistic potential of the inmates, Quinones brought in the concept of hand-painted formal attire.

As their skills grew, each participating inmate was paid anywhere from $2.60 to $13 per gown, depending on the intricacy of the design and the time to finish it.

The originality, the quality and craftsmanship of the painting of these gowns have attracted so much attention from the fashion world that a fashion show featuring the inmates’ work was held last November.

Called "Bilibid Fashion", the event in the New Bilibid was attended by the press, high profile designers and the director of the Bureau of Corrections, Gerardo Calderon.

"There was a catwalk, with models wearing the gowns — it was a real fashion show." Quinones said.

Colonel Bartolome Bustamante, Head and Executive Assistant of Director of Corrections, said that the Fashion Creativity workshop is a part of the livelihood programs aimed at preparing the inmates for a life once they finished serving their sentence.