The Bohol International Flower Festival (BIFF), a celebration of flowers and couture, took place in November 2024 at the Grand Resort Bohol, Philippines.
The theme of this year's BIFF Fashion Show was Fabulosity. 21 floral designers from around the world collaborated with renowned fashion designers to combine wearable body flowers chic and avant-garde with haute couture. The fabulous creations were inspired by the iconic flowers of the region.
The event was a tribute to the natural beauty and creative spirit of the islands, resulting in a harmonious combination of nature and design. Among the floral designers were many well-known names such as Pirjo Koppi (Finland), Kazuhiko Tanaka (Japan), Iza Tkaczyk (Poland), Tamas Mezoffy (Hungary) and from the Netherlands, Lily Beelen. She gave a speech on behalf of all the designers at the Convention Center.
For the Body Flowershow, Lily Beelen created a shoulder frame made of metal wire; ten metal leaves in the heart shape of an Alocasia leaf. The flowers are attached to this and to thin purple plastic tubes.
The second part of the show involved a collaboration between fashion designers Prins Paul Ranara & Roseth Mascarinas Ranara and Lily Beelen. ‘These two fashion designers designed this beautiful white dress. To stay as close as possible to the same atmosphere, I came up with a creation on the head with a sweeping line that matches the sleeve on her shoulder.’
‘Fashion designer Ranara chose the design from four of my design drawings that he thought best suited his dress. The base of the headdress is a velvet headband with different sizes of white wooden rings attached to it with thin white metal wire. Gypsophila and small white Zantedeschia flowers are woven through the creation. The whole thing is maneuvered into shape. Three layers of small white beads are strung around the neck. A 1.45 meter long pendant is attached to this. The pendant is made of thin fabric with a melted decorative adhesive layer on top – this contains metal wire so that it does not break when worn. To create a connection in this fashion design, white rings and Zantedeschia flowers are also incorporated.’
