Extravagance runs deep at the heart of HA.M&Uuml;. So, how does one tone down maximalism without the expense of losing one&rsquo;s design identity? Abraham Guardian and Mamuro Oki&rsquo;s solution is to think like a child.&nbsp;

This story originally appeared in L'Officiel Philippines' January 2022 print issue.
The idea that fashion is fun doesn&rsquo;t always ring true for every designer. It&rsquo;s never been truer since the pandemic ensued, a time when changing socio-economic dynamics pushed most brands to focus on the business side of things rather than design. But for designer duo Abraham Guardian and Mamuro Oki, the founders of whimsical label HA.M&Uuml;, the past two years have only led them to rediscover what really makes them tick.&nbsp;

Having founded the brand back in 2016, fresh out of accepting their Fashion Design and Merchandising diplomas from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, the friends-turned-design-partners Ham and Mamu, as they&rsquo;re nicknamed, set off to create HA.M&Uuml;, with the goal of bringing back that playful and over-the-top aesthetic to local fashion. Enter patchwork dresses with decadent tiered frills, frothy tulle frocks meant to be worn alone or over a simple tee and jeans, and a zany variety of accessories inspired by the humble egg. At first glance, it&rsquo;s all fun and games, but Ham and Mamu take their commitment to maximalism seriously&mdash;a closer look at any of their pieces will reveal that there&rsquo;s not a stitch amiss.&nbsp;

But five years in the scene can be tough for a self-dubbed &ldquo;design-first&rdquo; brand born from the idea that dressing shouldn&rsquo;t revolve purely around necessity. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re adjusting to the current times, as [in-person] events don&rsquo;t happen very often now and people would rather have pieces that they can reuse for other occasions,&rdquo; Ham says. Just last year, the pair launched a diffusion line called muu.haa, answering that need and nurturing a design philosophy that saw them creating more wearable day-to-day pieces that, in terms of construction and patternmaking, were less complicated to craft.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The silhouettes of muu.haa are safer and more toned down,&rdquo; Mamu continues. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t overthink about what type of designs we want to release as compared to HA.M&Uuml; pieces&hellip;We tend to be more detailed with HA.M&Uuml; designs, while also considering how we want to present our ideas as an art form.&rdquo;

HA.M&Uuml;&rsquo;s Spring/Summer 2022 collection shows that the label&rsquo;s innate exuberance has mellowed&mdash;though it&rsquo;s no longer as loud and head-turning as earlier collections, it remains quintessentially HA.M&Uuml;: vibrant and expressive, but without the need to overstate its aesthetic.
This time, it&rsquo;s about the purpose behind each design. Bouncing subtly off of Ham and Mamu&rsquo;s pieces for muu.haa, this latest collection, called Flowers of Youth, takes uniform dressing up a notch through clever patchwork, stitching, and a juxtaposition of silhouettes that makes even the most basic white shirt look new. &ldquo;The idea of putting two subjects together, flowers and youth, was derived from the [practice of preserving] flowers for d&eacute;cor or as keepsakes,&rdquo; says Ham. &ldquo;Even if the flower withers slowly over time, the memory of it remains. It&rsquo;s similar to our concept of youth. Youth is not defined by age.&rdquo;

HA.M&Uuml; takes nothing too literally. Without a petal in sight, the collection zeroes in on the life cycle of a flower; the concept of &ldquo;blossoming&rdquo; is mirrored through the collection&rsquo;s wide array of pieces that echo pre-adolescent schoolgirl fashions. Think elementary, not quite collegiate: modest shirt sleeves, prep-appropriate hemlines, and sweet, knee-grazing skirts no guidance councilor could veto.
And though their signature egg iconography doesn&rsquo;t appear here, circles and abstract shapes reminiscent of it make a subtle surprise appearance. Find homages to the sunny-side-up motif on the protruding applique of a denim skirt, on the extended, rounded hem of an off-kilter khaki cut-off, and, most visibly, as a stitched pattern on dresses. A special mention must go to this stitching technique applied beautifully on a unique sash bag that serves as a cool layering piece as well as a functional accessory. &ldquo;We explored a lot with cutout details, with various ways to achieve patchwork finishing, and even [found] a new way to play around with how we wanted to attach a skirt to the waist of a dress,&rdquo; Mamu shares.

&ldquo;We wanted to be able to make a collection [that allows] people to enjoy wearable art without having to think about whether or not the pieces will be difficult to mix into their current, existing wardrobes,&rdquo; the duo states. It&rsquo;s a conscious move towards designing what&rsquo;s best for their clientele without forgetting why fans identified with their aesthetic in the first place. In a nutshell&mdash;it&rsquo;s all about function, fashion, and a generous helping of fun.

Fountain of Youth: HA.MÜ's Abraham Guardian and Mamuro Oki

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