Malou gets creative for July 27 fashion show

Malou Cordery with her models

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Charlotte, North Carolina--Chicken feathers sourced from Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental, northern Mindanao in the Philippines was used to create a headpiece for male models  in a fashion show to be held at the  Lemeridien Hotel here on Saturday, July 27.

The headpiece is designed by Malou Tabada Cordery, originally from Villanueva, town and now a sought after avant garde fashion designer here in Charlotte. 

Malou was asked to create an outfit by Fashion D’ Lux for their editorial photoshoot titled the “New Male Warrior.” .She then made her own interpretation of a modern male warrior and submitted it to Fashion D’Lux as requested. 

Fashion D” Lux's fashion show entitled “The Modern Masculinity/ The New Male Warrior” will benefit the “Lily Pad Haven,Inc” founded by Carla Tweddale which supports victims of human trafficking. 

Prior to the show, Malou was asked to submit a picture of her creations.
“The next thing I knew the organization  set an editorial photoshoot session for their social media news, flyers, and cards.” Malou said.

She made two garments for the two male models and worked on it for two hours every night for two weeks. 

“The material I used are really my comfort zone materials---“recyclable materials. I used burlap, disposable hospital lab gown and painted them gold.” It was easy for her to find a hospital lab gown since she worked at a local hospital. 

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Malou used old used black yarn in creating tassels along with gold party plastic cups and beads to create jewelry. 

And the  chicken feathers and broken window blinds were used to create a headpiece. 

The chicken feathers came from her hometown of Villanueva where she was born and raised until she migrated to the Carolinas 25 years ago. 

“I have those feathers for the last 20 years and I don’t know why I brought those feathers,” Malou said. She recycled the feathers and used them for different projects all of which brought joy to her heart.

Malou came from the Tabada and Tadeo families in Villanueva and Tagoloan towns of Misamis Oriental and she got married to Richard Cordery 26 years ago. Their union is blessed by two lovely and charming daughters named Genevieve and Alyson. 

She has no particular designer that influenced her and she said she loves all up o  beautiful dresses that are displayed in stores and malls. Malou is a self-taught designer, reading up on the latest fashion trends to hone her craft.  She recalled that fashion designing is not new to her.

“As a young girl growing up in the Philippines, I was always cutting paper or shaping banana leaves to create doll dresses. I designed my first dress when I was in college. I joined the Achievers Club in my hometown of Villanueva.” Malou said. 

The Achievers Club is a group of ladies, mothers, sisters and friends who gather every Saturday morning for an arts and craft class. 

Right now, Malou is preparing for her new project in Charlotte in September and is busy helping online her younger cousin Ericka Paulin on how to win the Miss Cagayan de Oro 2018 pageant.