PHILIPPINE FABULOUSNESS

In my previous post I mentioned fashion blogger

Bryan Boy.Well, last weekend I had the pleasure

of finally makinghis acquaintance while on a trip to

Manila to visit my parents,who have lived there

for the past three years.

Bryansent pics of our night on the town to

Diane Pernet,who ran them ina post onher site,

and alsowrote about meeting my wife and I on his blog. 

I thought it was about time to return some of the loveand

introduce some Philippine fabulousness ... 

First, the new retail havenAdora, which was recentlyfeatured

inWWD, and byRobb Young ina postat A Shaded View on Fashion.

Next, Filipina "it" girls … Apparently Philippine Tatler

editors have annointedGeorgina Wilson as the "next big thing" ... 

While my spies tell me that she's not exactly a style icon,

I must confess to having been quite taken with Angel Locsin,

whose smoulders away on the cover of Manila stylemagazine

Preview, which I picked up while waitingfor my flight back to Narita.

Preview had an interesting spread on young Philippino artists. 

I was particularly taken by painter Yasmin Sison-Chang,whose

"Into the Woods (Rabbit)" apparently did very wellat a Christie's

auction in Hong Kong recently. I couldn't findan image of that piece

online, but here a couple ofprevious works, part of a "continuing

incursion intothe enigmatic interiority of her mutable realities mediated

through found pages of fashion magazines", according to this gallery.

Preview also had a long feature showcasingthe top names

at Philippine Fashion Week,which features over 500 designers (!). 

Foremost among these is arguably Jojie Lloren,who I came across

while researching Philippine fashionsome time ago. His career

was launched a decade agowhen he won the Concours International

des Jeunes Createursde Mode in Paris. Besides his signature label

he has three diffusion lines: LLOREN, A-17 and Jojie Lloren for Myth. 

There's a Japan connection here, too, as he was invitedto create

a design for the Asia 5 project organized by theJapan Foundation.

Another designer I've had an eye on for a while isJoey Samson,

who cuts great jackets and dressesTim Yap, editor, TV personality

and co-owner ofEmbassy Superclub. 

Also of note is celebrity dresser Iverluski Aseron,

one of whose party dresses is seen here sported

by MTV starletAnne Curtis.

One Manila-based designer to garner a globalfollowing

is Bea Valdes, whose meticulously handcraftedbags are sold

at stores like Saks, Barneys and HarveyNichols. In Tokyo

they are available at the Imperial Hotel. 

Finally, here's the tune I will remember this latest tripby

(the DJ Ayres remix played at Embassy on our night out

with Bryan Boy)