Ezra Santos‘s Definiendo El Amor (the “definition of love” in Inglé) integrates art and architecture with fashion, taking inspiration from the ornate structures of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.

Much like Gaudí’s magnum opus, the Sagrada Familia, the Dubai-based designer’s collection is masterfully constructed with a color story that gradates from champagne to gray and black.  It’s a marriage between structural luxe with form and function, Gothic with Art Nouveau. Each piece is exquisitely adorned with materials resembling stained glass, ceramic-like taupe, stone-colored roses, and details reminiscent of wrought iron work.

Keen eyes can detect the Capiz shell references in the first scallop armor pieces that walked the runway (Hey! I’m a fashion design student. You can’t blame me for wondering/spazzing on the inside at the question of what those accoutrements were made of.)  Aside from the cinched-waist coats and embellished side seam shorts, the collection also included sheer menswear pieces akin to Filipino barongs.

The opulent finale to Ezra’s feast of the artistic senses was a flowing all-white ensemble with textured leggings underneath a crystal encrusted neckpiece. Crowned with a high mohawk crest, the collection succeeded, much like Gaudi’s pieces, in marrying sensibilities with his Middle Eastern aesthetics.—ME LOVE YOU LOONG TIME

Photographed by Bruce Casanova