If he were still alive today, Jose “Pitoy” Moreno (February 25, 1925–January 15, 2018) would be turning 100 years old. The pioneering fashion designer, who gained recognition locally and globally as a leading figure in the fashion world of his time, is being honored with an exhibition and accompanying book entitled Timeless: J. Moreno at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (The M Museum) in BGC.
Pitoy Moreno promoted traditional Philippine textiles such as jusi and piña, bringing them into the global fashion spotlight. He revived interest in the Maria Clara and played a pivotal role in popularizing the Barong Tagalog for both men and women. This revitalization of traditional Filipino garments attracted a distinguished international clientele, including French couturier Pierre Cardin, the Emperor of Japan, and the kings of Morocco and Malaysia.
Photo courtesy of Pitoy Moreno Archives
His clientele for his exquisite evening dresses, formal gowns, and ternos, was equally star-studded: Philippine first ladies, socialites, movie stars–including Rita Moreno, who accepted her Oscar award in 1962 wearing a Pitoy Moreno creation, and attended the 2018 Academy Awards in the same dress–and royalty, such as the United Kingdom’s Princess Margaret.
Timeless: J Moreno is curated by New York-based art historian Dr. Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, assisted by co-curator Ditas R. Samson, and Los Angeles-based fashion curator Clarissa M. Esguerra, and The M’s curatorial department in close collaboration with exhibition and graphic designers Stanley Ruiz, Stephanie Yerba, and Cocoy Lumbao. This groundbreaking multimedia exhibition celebrates the centennial of Moreno’s birth.
Timeless: J. Moreno opens to the public on February 27, 2025. This exhibition is made possible by the Jusi at Piña Legacy Foundation.For more information, please contact info@metmuseummanila.org
About the Curatorial Team
Curator-in-charge Florina H. Capistrano-Baker received her PhD, MPhil, and MA from the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University in New York. Her doctoral research addressed the intersections between textiles, attire, and architecture in Island Southeast Asia. In 1991 she rediscovered a previously unknown cache of late 18th to early-19th-century Philippine garments in storage at the Leiden National Museum of Ethnology. These were returned temporarily to the Philippines in an exhibition she curated at the Ayala Museum (2004, 2007). Capistrano-Baker has made significant contributions to the research and identification of 19th-century albums of Philippine costumes called tipos del país. She definitively identified works by Damian Domingo and Justiniano Asuncion and called attention to the previously unknown practice of Chinese replication of these images. Capistrano-Baker currently sits in the jury of the Textile Society of America’s prestigious Shep Annual Book Awards. She will chair the Shep’s Selection Committee in 2025.
Co-curator Ditas R. Samson received her BA in Humanities (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines (Diliman) and MA in Liberal Studies from New York University. She is a senior curator and consultant for research and publications at the Ayala Museum. She was a visiting researcher at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea, under the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2007. She convened the third Asian Museum Curators Conference at Ayala Museum in 2008 in partnership with the Japan Foundation; in 2012, she was an Exchange Visitor for the Museums Connect program of the American Alliance of Museums.
Technical and curatorial consultant Clarissa M. Esguerra is Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). She joined the curatorial staff in 2008 and has overseen numerous costume and textiles installations and acquisitions. In 2016, she co-curated Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715–2015, and in 2019, she curated Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats from the David and Elizabeth Reisbord Collection. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in fashion design, gender studies, and the history of dress from Brenau Women’s College and the University of Georgia. Most recently, she co-curated Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse (2022).
If he were still alive today, Jose “Pitoy” Moreno (February 25, 1925–January 15, 2018) would be turning 100 years old. The pioneering fashion designer, who gained recognition locally and globally as a leading figure in the fashion world of his time, is being honored with an exhibition and accompanying book entitled Timeless: J. Moreno at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (The M Museum) in BGC.
Pitoy Moreno promoted traditional Philippine textiles such as jusi and piña, bringing them into the global fashion spotlight. He revived interest in the Maria Clara and played a pivotal role in popularizing the Barong Tagalog for both men and women. This revitalization of traditional Filipino garments attracted a distinguished international clientele, including French couturier Pierre Cardin, the Emperor of Japan, and the kings of Morocco and Malaysia.
His clientele for his exquisite evening dresses, formal gowns, and ternos, was equally star-studded: Philippine first ladies, socialites, movie stars–including Rita Moreno, who accepted her Oscar award in 1962 wearing a Pitoy Moreno creation, and attended the 2018 Academy Awards in the same dress–and royalty, such as the United Kingdom’s Princess Margaret.
Timeless: J Moreno is curated by New York-based art historian Dr. Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, assisted by co-curator Ditas R. Samson, and Los Angeles-based fashion curator Clarissa M. Esguerra, and The M’s curatorial department in close collaboration with exhibition and graphic designers Stanley Ruiz, Stephanie Yerba, and Cocoy Lumbao. This groundbreaking multimedia exhibition celebrates the centennial of Moreno’s birth.
Timeless: J. Moreno opens to the public on February 27, 2025. This exhibition is made possible by the Jusi at Piña Legacy Foundation.For more information, please contact info@metmuseummanila.org
About the Curatorial Team
Curator-in-charge Florina H. Capistrano-Baker received her PhD, MPhil, and MA from the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University in New York. Her doctoral research addressed the intersections between textiles, attire, and architecture in Island Southeast Asia. In 1991 she rediscovered a previously unknown cache of late 18th to early-19th-century Philippine garments in storage at the Leiden National Museum of Ethnology. These were returned temporarily to the Philippines in an exhibition she curated at the Ayala Museum (2004, 2007). Capistrano-Baker has made significant contributions to the research and identification of 19th-century albums of Philippine costumes called tipos del país. She definitively identified works by Damian Domingo and Justiniano Asuncion and called attention to the previously unknown practice of Chinese replication of these images. Capistrano-Baker currently sits in the jury of the Textile Society of America’s prestigious Shep Annual Book Awards. She will chair the Shep’s Selection Committee in 2025.
Co-curator Ditas R. Samson received her BA in Humanities (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines (Diliman) and MA in Liberal Studies from New York University. She is a senior curator and consultant for research and publications at the Ayala Museum. She was a visiting researcher at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea, under the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2007. She convened the third Asian Museum Curators Conference at Ayala Museum in 2008 in partnership with the Japan Foundation; in 2012, she was an Exchange Visitor for the Museums Connect program of the American Alliance of Museums.
Technical and curatorial consultant Clarissa M. Esguerra is Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). She joined the curatorial staff in 2008 and has overseen numerous costume and textiles installations and acquisitions. In 2016, she co-curated Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715–2015, and in 2019, she curated Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats from the David and Elizabeth Reisbord Collection. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in fashion design, gender studies, and the history of dress from Brenau Women’s College and the University of Georgia. Most recently, she co-curated Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse (2022).
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