Socks That Rock Manila Streets

Posted by Karlo Samson on November 7, 2015 in Style | Leave a comment

Statement socks are all the rage these days, but that doesn’t come as a surprise. With more people eager and willing to flaunt their personal brand of style, dress codes and traditional fashion fascism be damned, hosiery is a logical subject for play. We’ve seen several local sock brands in the market, but none that, design-wise, puts a local spin on their product. Until now.

From Team Manila Lifestyle, the studio that pioneered graphic-designing the Philippines through t-shirts, bags, coin purses, watches and other essential knick-knacks, comes TeamManila Medyas.

As you’d expect, TM Medyas draws heavily from the local colors and flavors of the Philippines, percolated through the Team Manila filter. Three themes inspire the collection, Philippine woven art, the country’s natural beauty, and urban life in Metro Manila.  The result is a vibrant collection that is equal parts vernacular and cosmopolitan.

We really like the set inspired by Philippine woven art. Dubbed PH Banig, Tapestry and Abaca, these socks present native patterns, familiar and dear to many of us, in a new medium which works extremely well. What are socks anyway but yarn woven into a tube and displaying some sort of design? We particularly love the colorways of Banig, which look almost futuristic. We can even easily imagine this treatment on a sneaker upper, such as on the Nike Run Roshe.

PH Banig

PH Tapestry

PH Abaca

The second set is composed of PH Ocean, PH Forest and PH Mountain which are pretty much self-explanatory. These are photos printed directly on the fabric, rather than a pattern teased out in the thread.

PH Ocean

PH Mountain

PH Forest

Rounding out the collection are Salapi, Kalsada, Piso and Takbo Bilis, which appropriate mundane yet idiosyncratic urban motifs to great effect, something that Team Manila does so skillfully.

Kalsada

Piso

Salapi

Takbo Bilis

The TM Medyas collection gives colorful options to fool around with if you’re looking to provide an accent to your ensemble. They may not be for every occasion, but there are certainly times when a splash of red geometric prints peeking above your shoe and below the hem of your trousers can add that extra oomph to your outfit. Would we wear them? Gladly. And, for the affordable price of P295 a pair, any Juan, Jose, Maria or Clara can afford them.

TM Medyas is available in Team Manila Lifestyle stores nationwide. For more information, head to the Team Manila Lifestyle site, here.