President dons traditional Philippine attire

Filipino designer Paul Cabral shows his design.[Photo/Agencies]

President Xi Jinping appeared in traditional Filipino attire at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Manila on Wednesday.

He wore a Barong Tagalog, or simply Barong, a kind of translucent and embroidered clothing worn by Filipinos at special events.

The Barong Xi wore featured tall bamboo with cascading leaves.

Filipino designer Paul Cabral labored for four months creating a Barong for each of the 21 APEC leaders, embroidered with individual symbols of their country.

Cabral said he studied the APEC leaders' posture to come up with a design that represents their country and suits their build.

US President Barack Obama's tall frame will be draped with bold patterns from US renaissance architecture, he said.

The shirt of Malaysia's Najib Razak boasts warrior shields from Sarawak.

Barong is considered to be a national attire of the Philippines. The cloth is made from the hard, spiked leaves from the pineapple's crown, which are pounded and dried.

For the leaders' shirts, Cabral mixed it with silk to make it more comfortable.

Also, he said he secretly sewed a satin lining on the tough collars to prevent itching.

Leaders also wore Barong when they attended the APEC meeting in 1996 held in the Philippines.

Having APEC member leaders putting on traditional clothing of the host member has become a routine for the meeting since the gathering in Indonesia in 1994, when the leaders were each given a shirt delicately dyed using Batik, a traditional dyeing technique in Indonesia.

At the APEC meeting in November last year in Beijing, leaders and their spouses were offered silk garments featuring traditional Chinese designs.

In October 2001, leaders including Russian President and then-US president George W. Bush, wore Tangzhuang, a traditional Chinese jacket featuring a mandarin collar and typical Chinese embroidery, at the APEC meeting held in Shanghai.

China Daily - AFP