Institute of Art Design + Technology Dún Laoghaire
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Guia Macapaz 

Design for Stage + Screen

Drawn to costume construction, Guia Macapaz is a Filipino-Irish costume designer and maker interested in bringing stories and ideas to life through innovative design using high-quality technical skills. As a firm believer that costume and clothing help form our identity, Guia is eager to represent different people, characters and communities authentically and beautifully in film and theatre. She has gained valuable experience in film and theatre, having worked with the NFS, and RIAM on two operas in the Samuel Beckett Theatre and the Project Arts Centre, and the Irish National Opera in The Gaiety Theatre.

Major Project. Costume for the Sun from 'The Alchemist' adapted for stage. Set in Mindanao, Philippines, the costumes take inspiration from 16th Century Spanish Renaissance silhouettes and Pre-Colonial Filipino textiles.
The costume consists of a close fitted bodice made of brocade with hook and eye closures in the front, a matching brocade underskirt, a gold taffeta overskirt with cartridge pleats and knife pleats, a burnt orange taffeta tabard embellished with trims with side tie closures, as well as gold taffeta hanging sleeves with knife pleats at the cuff that attach to the tabard with ties.
Side view of the costume which emphasises the silhouette and showcases the volume of the hanging sleeves and skirt.
The tabard from the front, highlighting the trims, piped edge and the three triangular points representing the sun rays.
The wide hanging sleeves are pleated at the cuff and feature trims along the opening of the sleeves.
With this costume, I wanted to represent the power and grandeur that the Sun embodies.
Final character designs with fabrications. Top (L-R) The Desert, The Water and The Sun; their costumes take inspiration from Spanish court gowns. Bottom (L-R) The three costumes of Santiago that indicate his growth throughout the story.
Final character research board for Santiago.
Prince Charmant's tailcoat in blue wool, gold buttons, black braided cord and black floral appliqué for Cendrillon, opera performance.
Le Compte Barigoule's military jacket in red wool and matching embellishments: gold buttons, black braided cord and black appliqué for Cendrillon, opera performance.
Prince Charmant and Le Compte Barigoule.
Final character research board for Prince Charmant and Le Compte Barigoule.
Major Project: The Alchemist, Costume Design for "The Sun"

For her final major project, Guia has chosen to take the novel, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and adapt it for stage. Wanting to explore the beloved story of Santiago and his journey of self-growth and self-fulfilment, Guia decided to set her adaptation in the 16th Century during the Renaissance Period, a time of enlightenment and exploration. She chose to set it in Mindanao, Philippines as a way to maintain the religious aspects yet explore new perspectives, as well as see what the Renaissance Period would look like in Southeast Asia during a time of colonisation. However, instead of colonial rule, it would be a cultural marriage. She wanted to achieve the ‘cultural marriage’ of the two cultures by designing and creating costumes inspired by silhouettes of the Spanish Renaissance with influences from the Philippines through their textiles and prints during the 16th Century.


Portfolio PDF Thesis PDF

From Tapís to Terno, the Filipino Traditional Dress: Fashioning the Filipino Female Body and Mind from the 16th to 21st Century.

For her thesis, Guia wanted to explore the transformation of the traditional female Filipino dress and the effects of colonisation and Eurocentrism on the image and mindset of Filipino women today. The cultural changes explored in this thesis were caused by the three colonial regimes that ruled the Philippines during the 16th-20th Century: Spain (1565 to 1898), the United States (1898 to 1946) and Japan (1942 to 1945) with a focus on the Spanish and American colonisations. In order to understand the effects of colonisation on the traditional clothing of Filipino women, it is essential to examine the female traditional dress in both pre-colonial and postcolonial periods; study how cultural assimilation, cultural hybridism and colourism manipulated the mindset and sense of self of the Filipino people; and explore the consequential feelings of shame, guilt and nostalgia of being a Filipino woman today. The aim of this thesis is to not only study the transformation of the traditional clothing for women of the Philippines but to reveal the already established, strong, female Filipino identity hidden under the dress of Western ideals.


Portfolio PDF Thesis PDF
Costume Design
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