Princess Margaret and Jose 'Pitoy' Moreno

Princess Margaret captivated the world as a fashion icon. She showed an early interest in global designers, making headlines for wearing Dior on her 21st birthday in 1951. The press constantly reported on her style, with Picture Post writing in 1953, ‘What she wears is news’.

Margaret remained an important figure in fashion throughout her life, engaging with designers and changing trends. While her elder sister, Elizabeth II, favoured a few carefully chosen British designers, Margaret collected an international wardrobe, dressing in outfits made by the most fashionable designers of the day.

The Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection now cares for many of Princess Margaret’s dresses, including two designed by one of the world’s most fascinating couturiers: Jose ‘Pitoy’ Moreno. A Filipino designer, Moreno rose in international prominence between the 1950s and the 1990s. The clothing he designed tells a fascinating story of Filipino history and national identity.

Margaret acquired the two dresses on a state visit to the Philippines in 1980. By the time she visited, Moreno was at the height of his career. He’d designed for many other monarchs like Queen Sofia of Spain and the Emperor of Japan, as well as Hollywood stars, including Rita Moreno (no relation), whose now-iconic Oscars dress he created.

But despite reaching global acclaim, Moreno stayed rooted in the traditions and textiles of the Philippines. ‘I want my designs to be very Filipino,’ he said, ‘And I want to be known as a Filipino couturier. That is very important to me.’

Princess Margaret stands smiling with a group of people. A man on the right of the image stands in a suit, smiling at the princess — *Image: Princess Margaret (left) meets Jose ‘Pitoy’ Moreno (second from right). Photograph from the Jose ‘Pitoy’ R. Moreno Archives*

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A green gown, of fine pulled and drawn threadwork green organza embroidered with large satin-stitched flowers, the raised waistline outlined with a bow

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Up close: Josey 'Pitoy' Moreno gown worn by Princess Margaret, 1980

This evening gown is embroidered using the Calado technique, which had become Moreno’s signature. The intricate, labour-intensive work involves dividing or removing fibres of a woven fabric and refashioning them in a grid‑like pattern.

The gown is now in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, cared for by Historic Royal Palaces. It is on display in Dress Codes at Kensington Palace until 30 November 2025.

Image: © Historic Royal Palaces

'Everything I did, I did for my country'

Moreno’s childhood, which began under American colonial rule of the Philippines, was interrupted by the violent Japanese occupation of Manila during World War II. He survived the 1945 Bombing of Manila, where American and Filipino allied forces fought to regain control of the capital city. This resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 civilians (one-eighth of Manila’s population) and the near-total destruction of Manila’s buildings and infrastructure.

In 1946, following the end of the war, the Philippines gained independence. Moreno graduated from high school to study art at university, where he would begin to develop both his personal and national identity.

In post-war Philippine society, Moreno saw that people popularised and embraced anything American or European—particularly fashion—and dismissed anything Filipino. He couldn’t reconcile this idea in the face of the vibrant heritage and talent he saw in his fellow Filipinos, and he began to use fashion design as an act of resistance against what he saw as the return of a ‘colonial mentality’.

Moreno’s first job, costume designing for a Filipino dance company, had introduced him to the many ethnic groups and cultural traditions of the Philippines, a rich history from which he drew inspiration. He befriended and employed skilled Filipino craftspeople—beaders, weavers, and embroiderers—to materialise his designs.

Pale jade green silk jersey evening ensemble comprising dress and stole, Worn by Princess Margaret. 1980. — *Image: The second Moreno gown owned by Princess Margaret, now in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. © Historic Royal Palaces*

Princess Margaret, dressed in tiara, necklace and light gown, meets Filipino designer Jose 'Pitoy' Moreno. A woman on the right wears an embroidered full-length gown — *Image: Princess Margaret, Jose ‘Pitoy’ Moreno, and Imelda Marcos. Photograph from the Jose ‘Pitoy’ R. Moreno Archives*

Moreno believed that Filipino makers could equal, and even surpass, the work of their Western counterparts, and the quality of his dresses stands as proof of that conviction. For a couture collector like Princess Margaret—whose wardrobe included leading European designers of the day like Dior, Hartnell, and Yves Saint Laurent—Moreno’s dresses were a natural addition to her repertoire.

Moreno saw his work as a designer as something more significant than just creating beautiful clothes. In a career retrospective, he mused, ‘Everything I did, I did for my country.’ He saw fashion as a tool for nation-building, and he allied with Filipino politicians who could give him a platform to perform on a global stage.

Moreno considered himself personally removed from the political landscape of Philippine government, remaining staunchly non-partisan his whole life, and working for radically opposing political leaders. First Lady Imelda Marcos, who hosted dinners for visiting dignitaries—including Princess Margaret—relied on Moreno to organise fashion shows as entertainment.

Marcos introduced Princess Margaret to Moreno at the dinner held in her honour. Margaret clearly admired his work, as she went home with at least three of his dresses (one is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum).

Moreno's materials and techniques

Moreno not only drew on the visual and cultural traditions of the Philippines to design the appearance of his clothing, but he also used knowledge of unique historic Filipino textiles.

Following the Spanish introduction of the pineapple plant to the Philippines in the 16th century, Indigenous Filipinos utilised pre-European weaving techniques to create piña, a textile made from pineapple leaf fibres. American colonialism and increased globalisation in the 19th and early 20th centuries saw a dramatic decline in piña production in the Philippines, and the mass physical and economic destruction of World War II irreparably damaged the industry.

Moreno joined a wave of post-war young Filipino designers trying to save the dying piña trade and toured his piña dresses in international fashion shows throughout the 20th century.

Producing piña fabric required highly specialised skill, as well as time and labour; there were never enough craftspeople to meet Moreno’s need. So, he initially turned to another historic cloth—jusi (raw silk)—to achieve the same effect. However, jusi production was gradually outsourced to China, and so its availability came to depend on Philippine international relations.

A detail of a green fabric with embroidered flowers — *Image: A detail of Princess Margaret’s dress showing the calado technique. © Historic Royal Palaces*

By 1980, demand for Moreno’s dresses had vastly outpaced piña and jusi supply, and so Moreno and his team continued to innovate—adapting chiffon and organza to emulate the look of the traditional textiles, thereby enabling calado embroidery, which had become Moreno’s signature, on these new materials. Calado embroidery involves dividing or removing fibres of a woven fabric and refashioning them in a grid‑like pattern.

Both of Princess Margaret’s J. Moreno dresses in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection feature this intricate, labour-intensive work. To achieve it, Moreno’s team of embroiderers first embroidered any designs on the given fabric using silk embroidery thread. Then, they would create a calado pattern out of the visible non-embroidered fabric. Finally, they cut and sewed the finished panels into a dress, and starched it using ‘gau-gau,’ a native plant to the Philippines, which stiffened the fibres to keep the delicate structure of the calado intact.

Historic Royal Palaces undertook scientific analysis of the fibres used in Princess Margaret’s floral dress and concluded that the fibre used for the outer layer of the dress was not cellulose based, meaning it is not a plant fibre, and not piña. Likely silk, the dress is a testament to Moreno’s transfer of weaving and embroidery techniques developed for piña to the fabrics available at the time. Materials analysis also shows the coating of the dress fibres with an organic substance, likely the gau-gau starch.

A legacy preserved

By wearing Moreno’s dresses, Princess Margaret brought the Filipino cultural heritage Moreno so proudly championed into Britain. For the first time, materials and techniques unique to the Philippines adorned a member of the British royal family. For Margaret, the dresses were exquisite additions to a cosmopolitan wardrobe; for Moreno, they were part of his lifelong mission to showcase the Philippines to the world.

Decades later, the survival of these dresses in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection ensures Moreno’s vision endures, not just as couture, but as the embodiment of heritage, diplomacy, and memory.