Plains & Prints teams up with Randolf for a collaborative collection that favors personality over minimalism.
Minimalists, look away! The new Plains & Prints x Randolf collaboration is chock full of statement pieces that add a touch of whimsy to a wardrobe and make no real effort to meet them halfway. The playful aesthetic belongs to Randolf, with easygoing elegance from Plains & Prints.
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Randolf, Beyond The Barong
Randolf is the label of creative director RJ Santos, whose oeuvre has mastered the art of getting noticed. A scroll through nearly any local influencer’s grid will turn up his pieces, which carry Americana-style tattoo illustrations of sailor’s swallows, swords, snakes, memento mori, cherubim, bows, and florals embroidered on jusi, cocoon, or piña. Santos is one of several local designers building their careers on modernizing traditional Filipino dress, and his website quotes custom barong Filipino at a base price of ₱20,000 to ₱37,000, depending on the fabric.
The partnership opens up a part of local fashion that was otherwise out of reach and hands its zaniness to a wider audience, at prices that seem about right for a designer-collaborated spread of this kind. It happens to be exactly what a retail brand would want from the arrangement, since affordability and mass-market reach are the whole point of the exercise. Plains & Prints has gone a step further by enlisting media personality Nadine Lustre as its new face.
Inside The Plains & Prints x Randolf Collection
The clothes themselves run experimental. A midi dress consists of a jersey t-shirt top with a layered tulle skirt. The cropped Fins jacket recalls a Victorian sailor suit, with heart-shaped snap buttons and an oversized collar, offered in either multi-colored or charcoal gray. The Joji short-sleeve top, made in a poly-tencel blend, is described as a “barong-inspired relaxed top that brings an easygoing silhouette to those prints.” Delicate lace vests add a touch of femininity to the overall collaboration.
Denim gets its share too, with relaxed jackets that have taffeta pleats at the back. The long Fin skirts come in denim blue or khaki with wing-like embellishments running down the sides. The Guts and Logo jorts, the latter of which come with a red heart-shaped back pocket, both possess a similarly relaxed attitude. The straight-leg Petals pants feature a tulip side seam that climbs up to the thigh. Semi-barrel Hero jeans come in multi-toned denim: statement-making enough to turn heads, safe enough to dress up or down.
Not every piece goes maximalist. The Road long-sleeved tops come in off-white, or sheer with a touch of multicolor, and a semi-fitted knit top stays plain off-white apart from a subtle ribcage-and-star embroidery, in typical Randolf fashion.
Who’s The Plains & Prints x Randolf Collection For?
So, who’s this collection for? Here’s the answer: it’s for the fashion-curious, the anti-minimalists, the pop-up crowd, probably the regulars at the Salcedo Weekend Market and Cubao Expo. It may be polarizing, to say the least, but it’s not an unwelcome sight, and it;s warm, playful, and expressive enough to get away with most of what it tries.
The Plains & Prints x Randolf Collection is now available for early access on the Plains & Prints website. As of October 8, it can be found in a selection of Plains & Prints boutiques, including Maisonette at Power Plant Mall, Glorietta 1, Shangri-La Plaza, Ayala Cebu, SM Davao and SM Lipa. By October 15, it should reach a selection of stores nationwide.
Photos courtesy of Plains & Prints
Frequently Asked Questions
The Plains & Prints x Randolf collaboration is a fashion collection that combines Randolf’s whimsical prints and experimental silhouettes with Plains & Prints’ accessible approach to everyday dressing.
RJ Santos is the creative director of Randolf, a Filipino fashion label known for tattoo illustrations and embroidered motifs on barong tagalog, and modern interpretations of traditional Filipino dress.
The Plains & Prints x Randolf collection features pieces priced from PHP 1,000 to PHP 4,700.
The collection includes statement dresses, cropped jackets, barong-inspired tops, printed shirts, embellished denim jackets, long skirts, jorts, and trousers with distinctive design details.
The collection is available for early access on the Plains & Prints website. As of October 8, it is also available at select boutiques, including Maisonette at Power Plant Mall, Glorietta 1, Shangri-La Plaza, Ayala Cebu, SM Davao, and SM Lipa. It is expected to reach select stores nationwide by October 15.
