From Soil to Style

In the April 2026 Earth Issue of Vogue Philippines [IG], the symbiotic connection between fashion and nature expresses its New Humanism roots in communities from Bangkok, Phuket, and Kyoto, to Cape Town, Oahu, and Ushuaia. Vogue fashion director Pam Quinones works with stylist Jia Torrato to create this beautiful story ‘From Soil to Style’. Photographers Artu Nepomuceno [IG] and Chi Geotina [IG] capture model Maria Isabela Galeria in Pilar, Sorogon, where the creative team emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between land and community through the lens of sustainable fashion.. / Hair by Gillary Sophia; makeup by Albert Lopez

Model Maria Isabela Galeria is a Sorsogon native and former Miss Universe Philippines candidate.

Designers & Materials: The shoot features avant-garde and heritage pieces from designers like Rajo Laurel, Jaggy Glarino and Pinagtagpi.
The Look: The styling integrates high fashion with functional agricultural elements—modelled garments are paired with hand-woven abaca hats and baskets filled with actual produce from local community gardens.
Narrative Intent: The goal was to remove the ‘Othering’ often found in fashion and instead present a symbiotic connection where the farm and the runway exist in a single, uninterrupted narrative of bounty and commitment.

For Successful Global Luxury Brands, ‘Othering’ Is Over

While AOC’s research is limited, we are seeing an organic shift in approach and emphasis, an act of removing the ‘Othering’ as noted by Vogue. China is hardly alone in prioritizing countless new projects committed to a re-harmonizing daily life with nature and also with the ancient wisdom held by these cultures.

Many of these traditions are thousands of years old — just as America’s indigenous peoples have ancestral knowledge of how to live harmoniously with the land, rivers and mountains. Our government rejects all that wisdom, but on AOC, we embrace and respect it.

China is ready to share its history and record of achievement with the entire world, throwing away humanism’s original Eurocentric history. Confucianism wasn’t born yesterday; and New Humanism — the term we use on Anne of Carversville — rejects the ignorance and judgement expressed by European philosophers and business leaders towards the rest of the world for centuries.

I wasn’t so clueless as to think Europeans and Americans had wrestled sufficiently with our ’Othering’ of the other 90% of the planet. But I also didn’t understand just how urgent is for Western luxury brands to understand that this Eurocentric cultural joy ride is over. To be continued . . . ~ Anne