MANILA, Philippines—With hardly a fuss, a British icon made its way to the country, its presence becoming the biggest open secret shared by local fashion cognoscenti.
MANILA, Philippines―I fully understand now why Larry Cruz persisted in sitting us down to dinner over the New Year and brainstorm on a book he wanted written. Barely a week after, he left for Washington, DC. A month later, this week, he was gone.
MANILA, Philippines—Easily the biggest fashion news this first half of 2008 is the February gala of Josie Natori, the first Filipino fashion designer to have become a global brand. She’s mighty proud to be Filipino. She, in fact, declares her ethnicity at every media exposure.
MANILA, Philippines—Over the holidays, feasting on the latest bestseller of my favorite author John Irving, “Until I Find You,” I came across a line that, to me, was the lesson of 2007.
MANILA, Philippines—The year 2007 will be remembered as the year the Filipino fashion designer boldly ventured out again—from the catwalk to the high-end retail mall—to stand shoulder to shoulder alongside foreign luxury brands, if not compete directly with them.
MANILA, Philippines―A fashion designer-friend called me up the other day, using this drop-everything-and-listen-to-this tone: “Did you know, ‘Project Runway’ winners are homeless? They’re as poor as when they joined the show.”
