📓THE FASHION HEADS: IROSS SANTOS CRAMER
SIX SCHOOLS. SIX VISIONS. ONE GOAL: TO TEACH FUTURE CREATIVES.
Behind every fashion school is someone keeping the machines running, the minds thinking, the deadlines moving, and—most importantly—the creative spirit alive. Meet the fashion heads shaping the classrooms where tomorrow’s Filipino designers learn to sketch, drape, sew, question, experiment, and, eventually, find their own voice.
For this edition of COOL Burn Book, we meet six of the people shaping Philippine fashion education—from a motherly chairperson and a former model to a Draping Queen, a self-confessed anti-organza academic head, and directors who believe that discipline, technical mastery, business acumen, and creativity are all essential parts of a fashion designer’s survival kit.
Approachable, driven, and casual, Iross Santos Cramer may keep things low-key, but when it comes to fashion, she believes in getting straight to work. A former model who once walked in one of FIP’s earliest graduation shows, Iross brings both industry experience and technical discipline to her leadership. Her personal style references Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, her favorite designer is Phoebe Philo, and her fashion survival uniform is refreshingly simple: dark jeans and a plain white tee. For her, what separates a good fashion student from a great one is technical precision paired with creative vision. Talent may get you started, but discipline will take you further.
At FIP Makati, students become part of a close-knit fashion community centered on craft, technical mastery, business, and accessible excellence in fashion education. Classes such as Basic Fashion Design and Fashion Photography give students room to explore, but the larger goal is to cultivate the mindset needed to navigate the industry. Iross sees the next generation of Filipino designers as globally ambitious yet increasingly mindful of their cultural heritage, while FIP Makati looks ahead to its Grad Show 2026 on October 11. Her words to students? Take the work seriously, master the craft, and remember that fashion is more than just for the ’gram.
Full Name:Iross Santos Cramer
Nickname: Iross
Position: Director
School: Fashion Institute of the Philippines Makati
SLAMBOOK QUESTIONS
Three words students would use to describe you. Approachable, driven, casual
Coffee, tea, or energy drink during deadlines? warm coffee / coffee jelly
A trend you secretly love? JORTS
Your fashion icon? Carolyn Bessette Kennedy
Your favorite designer of all time? Phoebe Philo
One wardrobe staple you can't live without? Dark Jeans, plain white tee
The best fashion advice you've ever received? Don't dress to fit into a mold. Dress to express exactly who you are on the inside.
Favorite comfort food after a stressful week? Katsudon and creme brulee
Weekend plans: sleep, shopping, museum, or beach? Work and football
Hidden talent outside of fashion? Not really a hidden talent, but I actually used to be a model way back then. I even modelled in one of the first FIP grad shows.
“The next Gen of Filipino designers has global ambition and is more mindful of cultural heritage in design.”
SIX SCHOOLS. ONE GOAL.
Different classrooms. Different personalities. Different philosophies.
But ask these six fashion heads what they ultimately want from their students, and their answers begin to look remarkably similar. They want young creatives who know their craft but aren’t afraid to question it. Designers who can dream—and execute. Creatives who understand that fashion is art, business, culture, technology, and hard work, all stitched together. Most importantly, they want students who can enter the industry with something no curriculum can simply hand them: a voice of their own.
Because the future of Philippine fashion isn’t going to look like just one thing. It will be global and local, technical and experimental, traditional and disruptive, circular, conscious, digital, handmade, and completely unexpected. And somewhere right now, the next generation is sitting in a classroom—cutting fabric, refining a pattern, sketching an idea, questioning a critique, or staying up far too late to meet a deadline.
The fashion heads are watching. And they’re ready to teach them how to make it happen.#CoolisinSession #CoolBurnBook
