Kermit Tesoro

Berlin's brutalism is direct and unadorned. The outfit isn't. Putting them in the same frame exposes what each one refuses to compromise. Testing how a "leucistic" piña textile behaves within a building that was designed to ignore anything soft. The dialogue isn't profound just material against mass, and form meeting form.

I'm lucky to be part of this exhibition in Amsterdam! Come join the conversation! 🐙🐙🐙

It's a bag, trust me. Using it as a mask is also an option. Inspired by the headhunters of the Cordillera in the Philippines. Like many of my shoe designs, it's intentionally impractical. No handles; you carry it the way you'd carry a decapitated head, by the hair of excess fabric.

What fits inside? Only what could fit in an actual human skull: pocket-friendly vices, fun-sized secrets, or maybe the dehydrated brain of your enemy.

Neuroshell, 2025 (piña fabric, beads, polyvinyl chloride, glass)

Bauhaus Filipiniana: merging my appreciation for German modernism with the use of Philippine raw materials.

From my micro-collection Leucistic Observations, this particular piece is a tribute to the mysticism and cults in the Philippines, especially those that amalgamate the divinity of Catholicism with self-imposed purity, unknown sacrifices, esoteric rites, and the rituals passed down through generations until death.

Dare I say, we braved the Mercury retrograde during this guerrilla shoot. I was still feeling under the weather, and the skies were overcast...which, thankfully, worked in our favor.

Huge thanks to the sweetest couple (both professional DJs visiting Berlin): Sharla, who channeled her modeling experience so easily, and Adri, who played stage dad, behind-the-scenes guy, ocular scout, and somehow pulled out his inner stylist. Their time and generosity, and the luck of having all the locations to ourselves, felt like the universe was giving us permission to play and be productive at the same time.

We had so much fun, fleeting from an abandoned compound, to somewhere eerie, and finally to a lake where everything felt peachy keen. Meaning, more pictures to come, one look at a time.