BYS Fashion Week 2024: Kristine Ordinario Channels Myth and Modernity in ‘Medusa’

BYS Fashion Week 2024: Kristine Ordinario Channels Myth and Modernity in ‘Medusa’

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Decked in leather and gold, this young designer’s collection breathes new life into a legendary femme fatale

More than just a figure of lore, Medusa has evolved into a powerful muse in fashion. Inspired by her untamed strength and resilience, young designer Kristine Ordinario conjured an entire collection that exuded exactly that at this year’s BYS Fashion Week. Yet this isn’t the same monster who turned men to stone, but rather a modern-day symbol of power clad in an equally powerful ensemble to match. Strong, sultry, and utterly sophisticated, this is Medusa.

BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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In the eyes of many, Medusa was the perfect oxymoron: she was hauntingly beautiful and alluring, a blend of beauty and danger. Ordinario leaned into this duality through crafting pieces that are as much about power as they are about style. 

BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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Finding a piece that wasn’t in leather was nearly impossible—and for good reason, as it’s the designer’s signature material. Ordinario dressed the models in hues of terracotta brown, blacks, greys, and dark moss, echoing both the earthiness of the serpent’s origins and her elegant allure. 

BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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“I want the audience to see how I interpreted my concept into the details I applied to each piece,” the designer told MEGA. 

Almost every piece was accented with gold chains and metal details, which not only added a touch of luxe but also reflected the strength and weight of Medusa’s narrative. If not chains, the designs featured lace-up accents, crisscrossing like serpentine scales, another stylish take on the theme.

BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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n the third day of BYS Fashion Week 2024, Kristine Ordinario breathed new life into the legend of Medusa. Inspired by the untamed strength and resilience of the mythical being, the designer conjured an entire collection that exuded exactly that. She reimagined the Medusa of today not to be the same monster who turned men to stone, but rather a modern-day symbol of power with an equally powerful ensemble to match. Strong, sultry, and utterly sophisticated, she presents Medusa in the here and now. 
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BYS Fashion Week 2024 Kristine Ordinario
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This collection brings Medusa back to life in a way that feels both fresh and familiar. Kristine has always had that boundary-pushing edge, and her love affair with leather runs deep. So taking inspiration from this figure from Greek mythology only underscored both her skill as a designer and her voice as a creative (anyone else glued to that one look with hair wrapped around the neck like a choker?). In the end, she took a legend, reimagined it, and made it her own.


Photographed by GRANT BABIA

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