MANILA, Philippines - Bag designer Amina Aranaz-Alunan hopes to turn her newly established School of Fashion and the Arts into a platform for other talented minds that would some day turn the Philippines into a fashion capital in Asia

TWO weeks before Amina Aranaz Alunan gives birth to her second child (a girl!), it is another “baby” that continues to demand the celebrated bag designer’s and young mom’s undivided attention.

Since opening her School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA) in October 2007, she’s had to plan her days a week ahead. “I can’t have any spontaneous meetings, lunches, or socials unless they’re planned in advance. It’s a different world, different from bag design,” reveals Amina at the bright and cool lounge of her Paseo de Roxas, Makati school, once the office of a major daily. “But it’s nice because I feel that I’m hopefully able to influence our students to become better fashion professionals.”

Co-founded with former Rustan’s brand manager Loralee Baron-Soong, SoFA began last October with eight workshops and 30 students. Less than a year later, the school boasts 85 enrollees and offers TESDA-accredited short courses (in bag design, shoe design, fashion photography, makeup techniques, and fashion styling); six-month certificate programs (in fashion design, clothing technology, and fashion merchandising); year-long diploma courses (in fashion design and fashion marketing); and a two-year associate degree (in fashion design and marketing). Faculty includes the likes of fashion designer Jojie Lloren, shoe designer Brian Tenorio, makeup artist Patrick Rosas, and even Amina herself, and students range from 16-year-olds straight out of high school to professionals considering a serious shift in careers.

Launched late September, a four-year, CHED-accredited BA degree in fashion design and marketing signifies Amina’s intention to turn SoFA someday into “a fashion university. Hong Kong has one, Singapore has one, and of course, all the fashion capitals have one. A lot of kids now are sure they want to work in the fashion industry, and I really wanted to provide an educational institution that would take them from zero skills to (becoming) real fashion professionals.”

Like any teacher, however, the real dream is to produce the kind of students who can turn the country “into the fashion capital of Asia . You know what? The Philippines isn’t so far behind the fashion trends I’ve seen in other countries,” says Amina. “I mean, we’re different, but we’re also not far behind.”

Though growing up exposed to her mom’s bag manufacturing and exporting business should have been education enough for Amina (who opened retail stores in Rockwell’s Power Plant Mall and Greenbelt 5, Makati this year), she believes “that if I had been able to go fashion school straight out of high school, I think I would have been more skilled and a more knowledgeable person in fashion.” Instead, Amina majored in what she felt was the closest thing to a creative course back then: Interdisciplinary Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Sensing the need for a fashion school in the Philippines became apparent when she finished her master’s degree in accessories design at Instituto Marangoni in Milan , Italy —and even more so when she came home from her studies in 2004. Tapped by Marangoni to be its spokesperson in the Philippines , Amina observed the huge desire among Pinoys to study abroad—and the limited resources to do so. “I actually met with a number of people who wanted to study fashion,” she says, “but their biggest problem was always financial constraints. They asked about scholarships but at Marangoni, you have to be a European citizen to be able to avail yourself of one.”

SoFA was born after Amina gave birth to her first child, a boy, and was finally free to meet with Loralee, another Marangoni alumna who shared Amina’s vision of setting up a school of fashion (and was on the verge of quitting her job at Rustan’s). A partnership with The One School, an established entrepreneurship school run by Alexis Ledesma and Cheese Ledesma-Ong (managing director of Nami Resort and co-founder of the Big Chill, Inc.) allowed SoFA to offer much more than short-term, hands-on seminars.

While Amina doesn’t find teaching a stretch, having given lectures on bag design before, running a school has been a true learning experience, to say the least. A lesson plan and grading systems were once alien to her, and getting SoFA accredited by the proper agencies “takes a long time, a lot of requirements, and a big investment,” she sighs. “Starting a school is easy, but maintaining it is a different story because you have to make sure your product is always good. And because our product is their education, we always have to keep evaluating what we teach our students. So we’re still in the learning process ourselves.”

Still, if there’s one thing this bag designer discovered early, it’s that she actually likes leading a class—and being in one. “I enjoy dealing with the students,” says Amina, who teaches two classes—Bag Design and Fashion and the Arts—and considers herself a terror “only during my first trimester,” she says jokingly. “It’s nice seeing them learn something from you. I also like hearing their ideas and points of view. Makes me wish I had the leisure of time to study again!” •

Visit the School of Fashion and the Arts at 55 Paseo de Roxas Avenue , Makati City, or call tel. no. 491-5536 for inquiries.