Filipino fashion designers mentioned in Flavorpill.net
Yvette Cuenco
Roughly 10% of the Philippines' GDP comes from exported human
resources, with the country's doctors, nurses, and domestic helpers
sending a portion of their wages back home to support their families.
Two former models from Manila, however — Celestina Maristela-Ocampo
and Bea Valdes — are on a fashion mission to preserve and promote
native Filipino craftsmanship through their respective lines of
artisanal evening bags, which have been charming editors, retailers,
and style arbiters the world over. We caught up with the two women in
Paris, where they were a hit at the Vendome luxury trade show.
"I am inspired by the local artisans whose hands are old but their
spirits are alive," says Ocampo, who modeled in Manila, Hong Kong, and
Singapore in the '80s. Her jewelry-box inspired minaudieres showcase
traditional techniques using indigenous materials, with some styles
taking up to eight weeks to make because of their components'
geographical origins. For instance, Ocampo's mother-of-pearl comes
from Davao (in Mindanao, the southern region); it's then sent for
artisanal etching in a province north of Manila (Luzon, the northern
region); then back to Manila to be molded in brass. The clasps and
framed shells are finally sent to the Visayas (the middle region) to
be assembled. "It's a long process that needs many skilled hands to
create one precious bag, and it's worth the wait," exclaims Ocampo.
Celestina initially started with 25 bags that quickly found their way
into prime retailers such as Barneys, Jeffrey, and Kirna Zabete, and
into the pages of Vogue; it now includes shagreen-wrapped,
abalone-and-cracked-mother-of-pearl sunglasses that sell at Bergdorf
Goodman. And the expansion continues for s/s '08 with exquisite
crocodile bags, fans fashioned from piña cloth (fibers derived from
pineapples), jade cuffs, pendants crafted with filigree, bags from
abaca fibers, and scarves with glass beading in the Igorot (a northern
tribe) style.
While Ocampo island-hops to find materials in the Philippines, Bea
Valdes, whose family has been a purveyor of fine jewelry for three
generations, scours the globe for materials to make her
hand-embroidered clutches and tulip-shaped, beaded evening bags.
Although the semiprecious stones come from India, the crystals from
Austria, and the plumage and sequins from France, the bags themselves
are handmade by a staff of 38 in Manila. The process can take from two
weeks to two months, depending on the complexity of the design. "I
work around the specific characteristics of each individual component.
I have to take into account the unique spaces between different
crystals, calculate shape against slope," says Valdes, who studied
creative writing and industrial design at the University of the
Philippines. "It is an exploration of hand craftsmanship," she says.
"It is the contemporary chapter of the first language of
ornamentation, done by hand — slowly, meticulously, individually."
After her self-titled line's November, 2004 launch at Firma, a
Moroccan-inspired lifestyle store in Manila, Valdes brought the
collection to New York. Vogue ran a story anointing Valdes'
concoctions must-haves for 2005, and retail accounts at Barneys, Saks
Fifth Avenue, and Kirna Zabete followed. Apart from her bags, Valdes'
outsized jewelry — fashioned from exotic stones such as tiger eye,
onyx, and lapis lazuli — has been winning fans, including "It"
designer Rachel Roy, and was recently worn by Kirna Zabete co-owner
Sarah Easley for a Vogue spread. Why does Valdes think that her work
has struck a chord with the international crowd? "Ornamentation —
embellishment is a common language. I use natural materials and
traditional techniques, but in contemporary shapes and ways."
-Robert Cordero
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Yvette Santos Cuenco
ph:(925) 207-1551
web: vettievette.wordpress.com