Mabuhay to Dalaga

New York City’s Fall Fashion week is transpiring in Manhattan. The New York Times ran extensive coverage, including an essay that plaintively bemoans: “Now that the runways are a medium for just about everything, you can never be sure of the message.” In the old days, Fashion Week was just for the industry, with maybe a bit of networking and partying spilling over to the mainstream. Now it’s a dog-and-pony-show extravaganza, with hundreds scrambling for tickets and celebrities coming out to be glamorous for the sake of being glamorous.

But a much less confusing and much more accessible sort of fashion can be found closer to home. Greenpoint’s Franklin Avenue is studded with small designer boutiques situated between the bodegas and the bars like gems in a tarnished antique bracelet. One of the best of these is Dalaga, owned by designer Michelle Mangiliman and her husband Robert Lindeman.

The name Dalaga comes from the Tagalog word for “young woman,” which Mangiliman chose as a tribute to her Filipino roots. She further defines Dalaga to encompass her whimsical-yet-timeless aesthetic, posting a placard in the boutique that reads: “Dalaga, n: A quintessential young woman in her prime.” Mangiliman’s line of clothes, Dalaga NYC, is sold in the boutique, as well as the lines of other young and hard-to-find designers, including many fellow Brooklyn locals.

Dalaga is painstakingly decorated with Victorian boudoir furniture and silk flowers, like “The Secret Garden” meets Anthropologie. Right now sale racks are still full of summer pieces and last season’s denim. Dalaga isn’t cheap, but it certainly is affordable by boutique standards. On sale, a long thin-knit fuchsia cardigan was only $60, and a few pairs of green colored denim considerably marked down. On Dalaga’s website, Mangiliman makes a point of saying she wanted her boutique to feature affordable and not over-priced clothes.

“We try to keep it local,” said co-owner Robert Lindeman, who was manning the Dalaga counter on a recent Sunday afternoon. “We like to help out artists in the neighborhood.” Lindeman mentioned designer Mary Meyer, a young Californian who has recently relocated to Brooklyn. Meyer’s Spring 2008 collection focused on old-school sundresses and over-sized tees that incorporate a blend of early 60’s prim and 80’s rock ‘n roll.

Lindeman also mentioned design duo Sovereign and Beck, a pair of Rhode Island School of Design grads who have made it their mission to inject some young and edgy style into neckties. The duo’s ties are rare and difficult to find, and Dalaga is one of only a handful of stores in New York to carry them.

Maybe it’s best to leave pondering the meaning of Fashion Week to the New York Times. The rest of us can just go shopping.