Filipino nurse Sherlon Garbo has won the Melbourne Cup Fashion Racewear Men’s National Competition in Australia, bagging a Lexus sports car and several major prizes.
Garbo was declared the winner of the annual Myer Fashions on the Field which was turned into the “MYER Fashions on your Front Lawn Men’s Racewear” on November 5, 2020, the first winner from the Northern Territory where he currently resides.
The title came with a Lexus sports luxury car, a trip for two for the 2021 Melbourne Cup Carnival with 4 nights of accommodation at Sofitel Melbourne, and $8000AUD worth of gift certificates courtesy of Myer, TCL TV, and Antler luggage.
In his video entry, Sherlon Garbo proudly declared being from the Philippines and loving fashion photoshoots and how he came to Australia in 2015 to study nursing.
Garbo shared how we wore an ensemble to break the rule of monotone in men’s fashion and topped it with his self-made face shield.
“My outfit was from Zara which I bought years ago. I have a wardrobe of old clothes which I mixed and matched to come up with my racewear outfit,” shared Garbo in a Good News Pilipinas interview.
“My inspiration in my racewear outfit is about fashion in the midst of covid19 pandemic and the love for indoor plants as a budding ‘plantito’. I chose our veranda with some of our indoor plants and became my backdrop for my entry photos,” the 2020 Melbourne Cup’s Men’s Racewear Fashion online competition winner explains.
Garbo also made his own DIY face shield using old 3D eyeglasses. He cut the lower half of the frames and then removed the films. He then cut out the acetate cover of an old box of a perfume gift set and glued it on each side of the frame.
The Melbourne Cup Carnival Fashion titlist had an equally colorful and heartwarming backstory.
Loving fashion in the Philippines
Sherlon Garbo’s love for fashion, fabrics, and textures had its beginnings when he was 10 years old in the Philippines amid the tragedy of his mother stricken with cancer. The young Garbo wanted his own sewing machine so he could help his mom provide the family bedsheets, linens, curtains, and pillowcases that they could not afford to buy.
Being able to practice nursing in Australia since 2018, he was finally able to buy a sewing machine that he dedicated to his mom who had passed away and can do minor alterations on his own.
“I know some basic sewing and alterations but would definitely want to learn tailoring as a formal qualification in the future,” shares Garbo.
Back when he was a student at Holy Angel University in Pampanga, Sherlon joined pageants for a free nursing review package and some prize money. Although he did not win the pageant title, Garbo met photographers, designers, and stylists who invited him to be a model for fashion photoshoots.
Asked if he would consider fashion design as a profession, Garbo says not at the moment but he is open to possibilities.
“At this stage, I can say that it is my hobby but anything can happen in the future,” he says.
More Filipino designs in fashion are reaching the global market, including, the Eco-ethical Filipino fashion by Rags2Riches reaching North America through the Cambio online shop and Han Vi Kim’s Filipino-Korean fashion.
SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to Filipino nurse Sherlon Garbo for winning the Melbourne Cup Fashion Racewear contest!
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