ABOUT

About the brand

Jillian Joy San Juan, designer and owner behind Jillian Joy Hand Crafted, is at the forefront of a new generation of designers creating contemporary designs of the filipiniana, pushing for the cultural Filipino garment to be brought back into our every day lives. With a focus on the butterfly sleeves of the terno, the brand offers a ready-to-wear line of modern filipinianas that can be dressed up or down to suit any and all occasions, a made-to-order bridal line for the trendy bride, and specializes in custom made bridal filipinianas.

How it all began

While the brand originally began solely as a custom order service in 2017, Jillian noticed a gap in the market for modern filipinianas after receiving a surplus of positive feedback for her graduating collection, the Iglesia collection, in 2018 which combined traditional, Filipino silhouettes with contemporary, western trends. For the next few years, Jillian focused her custom order intake on clients interested in terno designs. After attending TernoCon in Manila in 2019, Jillian was inspired to push her designs beyond a custom service to include a ready-to-wear line of modern filipinianas in order to propel the terno back into our everyday attire. Since the launch of Jillian Joy Handcrafted’s first mini collection of ready-to-wear ternos in 2020, the brand has gained an international customer base and has been featured in international press including the New York Times, CNN Philippines and Omni News in Toronto.

Jillian Joy San Juan

Growing up, Jillian always had a passion for fashion and enjoyed expressing herself through dressing up for occasions. However, being petite in stature meant having a lot of difficulty finding clothes that fit how they were meant to. Jillian battled this challenge by starting to sew her own clothing in high school. The moment she started designing and creating, she knew it was the path she wanted to take as a long term career.

In 2014 she started studying in the Fashion Design program at the Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University during her time). During her studies, Jillian took on custom orders for prom dresses and wedding gowns as her side business, and officially named it Jillian Joy Handcrafted in 2017. Throughout her years as a fashion design student, Jillian learned industry techniques with garment production, and specialized in fabric draping and pattern creation which she was able to apply and put into practice through her brand. While preparing for her graduating collection, the Iglesia collection, Jillian fell in love with the terno after studying its history and evolution, and sewing the butterfly sleeves for the first time. She graduated in 2018 with her Bachelor of Design and continued to run Jillian Joy Handcrafted on the side until she gained enough demand to run it full time in 2021.

Today, Jillian is the sole designer and owner behind the brand and now has a team of dedicated sewers who assist in the production of her ready-to-wear line. She continues to specialize in her custom bridal service which she started the business with, and takes on all custom orders on her own from design to realization. Through the brand, she strives to share her love and appreciation for the Philippine terno with the world.