Below are the articles:
Celebrities Do Double Duty
by C. Mendez Legaspi
‘The explosion of the tabloid press and the Internet has made the general public kind of insatiable” when it comes to celebrities, Estée Lauder president John Demsey remarked to Time’s Style & Design in Fall 2006. “People want a sense of familiarity with the people they look up to these days.” This opinion takes on a factual urgency when you consider that retail labels have been consistently using familiar faces as a marketing tool to sell their wares.The stars, too, have seen the profit potential of such a partnership and have, naturally, agreed to be endorsers of all kinds of brands. Don’t wonder then if these stars are averse to ambush interviews or random paparazzi shots. It’s an “invasion to privacy,” they wail. Truth is, they’re just “protecting the commodity,” i.e., themselves. Stars don’t have a stream of income from a stolen shot. What they want is control of their image and how they are presented to the public.
This is where an endorsement deal becomes desirable for a star, who can rake in millions in the process. For a brand to build and solidify its market position, it makes business sense to attach itself to a recognizable face. Get Laud!, for instance, was generally unknown until it got the ingénue Roxanne Guinoo. With leads in ABS-CBN soaps and sitcoms, the starlet did wonders to the sales of the fledgling clothing brand.
Guinoo’s fellow Star Circle Quest finalist Melissa Ricks was commissioned by lifestyle label Penshoppe to be one of its cliquish endorsers. With her loveteam-mate Matt Evans, both appeal to the brand’s youth target market. The multitalented Maja Salvador hawks for Folded and Hung (F&H), long the turf of Claudine Barreto and Angel Locsin. While the latter two are positioned for the chic working-class females, Salvador serves the company’s aim to lure the perky, younger crowd.
ROXANNE GUINOO for Get Laud!
While Penshoppe snared Akihiro Sato (and scored a coup when JC Tiuseco, recently declared the Pinoy Sole Survivor, walked the runway at Philippine Fashion Week), F&H grabbed the equally hot Hideo Moraoka to be its billboard boy. The Japanese-Brazilian may not have cinematic ambitions like his countryman Akihiro but his appeal knows no borders, helping the once-boring brand attain a combustible status.CARMEN SOO for Petit Monde
Still smiling—and selling well—are bosom buddies Gretchen Barreto (for Plains and Prints) and Ruffa Gutierrez (for Avon Fashions). After scandals and heartbreaks, the cachet of these great beauties increases exponentially. Both also hawk for Pantene. As long as they are in the public eye, for good or ill, their fame serves their benefit.
To complement its loyal stable of endorsers (Sunshine Cruz, Jodie Santa Maria and Cheska Garcia), Petit Monde introduced Malaysian superstar Carmen Soo. Gaining fame starring opposite Jericho Rosales, Carmen endeared herself to the public as the prudish but charming Carrie in the concluded soap Kahit Isang Saglit on ABS-CBN. “We didn’t have a hard time in the negotiations. She went to one of the Petit Monde stores and liked what she saw,” said PM’s owners, the Tan siblings, adding that they believed that Carmen signed on because she loves the clothes (50 percent) and is satisfied with the paycheck (50 percent).
All this luring of stars super and up-starts has been mastered to a science by the biggest lifestyle brand of them all—Bench. Not content with its already dizzying lineup, it launched over the weekend the current hottest property: Karylle. Shedding her prim image, Karylle also shed some of her clothes to be the image for Bench Body. Suddenly, the proper Miss Tatlonghari is no Pollyanna after all. (Philippine Fashion Week photos by Henry Anima II)
IN PHOTO -- KARYLLE for Bench Body
'Inabel' All The Way
by C. Mendez Legaspi
CORY QUIRINO in Dita Sandico-Ong
In its continuing efforts to make abel Iloko as useful as piña and jusi, the Ilocos Sur provincial government staged a unique showcase, Tawid Ken Partuat Red Fashion Show, at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall, participated in by the northern province’s political bigwigs and social lights.
Directed by Cata Figueroa Jr., the fast-paced “heritage and crafts” show was a display of pomp and color as the locally woven abel fabric enjoys a resurgence among the country’s high-fashion purveyors.
“It’s worth to note that this project was made possible by the provincial government of Ilocos Sur, headed by Gov. 
DEPUTY National Security Adviser Luis “Chavit” Singson in Roel Rivera
Deogracia Victor “DV” Savellano. It was the first time that the bigwigs of Ilocos Sur politics, such as Assistant National Security Adviser and former governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, Rep. Eric Singson, Rep. Ronald Singson, President Elpidio Quirino’s granddaughter Cory Quirino and Governor Savellano, together with local politicians and society figures, were present in one affair,” says Winona Santos, the overall project coordinator.
Since the start of his tenure, it has been Savellano’s vision to promote the province as a “wholesome, safe and secure vacation destination with personnel capable of delivering world-class services” anchored on five tourism market niches: coastal, heritage, pilgrimage, events and agri-aqua.
BOARD member Chuchi Purisima in her own design
From blankets to bed covers, pillowcases and place mats, abel Iloko has also penetrated the high-fashion firmament. At the Tawid Ken Partuat show, Randy Ortiz, Edgar San Diego, Avel Bacudio, VJ Floresca, Dita Sandico-Ong and Rhett Eala dressed the politicians and their scions in abel Iloko finery.
The show signified the provincial government’s mandate to preserve and promote the economically viable abel-weaving industry. The traditional craft follows a complex intricate process—from preparing and dyeing the yarn, to arranging different colors of yarn to produce the envisioned design, and operating the wooden handloom with the synchronized movement of hands and feet. (Photos by Henry Anima II)
“I also plan to have a shop here [Manila] as well as in Cebu. Enough of being a slave outside the country!” echoes first runner-up Philipp Tampus, the Lapu-Lapu City native who toiled for years in the Middle East. “I want to dress up Kris Aquino, because she is maingay and magandang endorser!”
Tampus, The Romantic, unleashed an “ethereal” collection of lace and crochet that belied his Arab references. “It was really torture on my part to edit and edit my collection,” he recalls with a heavy sigh. His Arab clientele, he says, are fond of embellishments, “but this was a competition. Gusto ko sana ilabas lahat! But I showed my range, from swimwear to gowns. Pero tame na yun!”
Amid the Saluds, Peraltas, Madambas and distinguished young designers that showed spectacularly at the recently concluded Philippine Fashion Week, there was Sassa Jimenez. Out of fashion thin air, this burgeoning talent shone brightly at the SMX Convention Center in Runway Productions’ biggest fete yet of the country’s style-setters and trend-minders.
Jimenez displayed a range well beyond her 21 years. She experimented with draping and gathering in a pink “rose” skirt with a black cowl neck top. “But I didn’t want it to look too complicated so I decided to make just one area of the skirt the focal point, so I ended up with a textured portion near the bottom that resembles a rose beaming outwards on the skirt.”
THOUGH not aired on the two biggest networks in the land, the runaway television hit of the season is Project Runway Philippines (PRP) on ETC/SBN 21. Well, at least among fashionistas and similar crowds. A Filipinized adaptation of the Peabody Award-winning show, PRP had Teresa Herrera, Rajo Laurel, Apples Aberin-Sadhwani and Jojie Lloren as our approximations of, respectively, Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn. 
Tampus showcased his romantic streak with a beautiful collection dominated by his deft manipulation of crochet and lace. This was an offshoot of his piece from the Wedding Challenge (Episode 6). Lagat brandished his mastery of tailoring with his “More Than a Woman” line of precise, well-constructed, stupendous clothes. That was a progression from his 2006 Mega Young Designers Competition entry of technically superior work. 
Each finalist was allotted three months and were given a six-figure budget to make their collections. “I knew Philipp’s strength is couture and Aries will do avant-garde, and since the challenge that I won was about retail [Cinderella RTW Challenge, Episode 9], I opted to go in that direction,” Floresca related.
Frederick Peralta, who has been making unforgettable bridal wear since the 1980s, has devoted himself—possibly more than any other fashion designer working today—to the tender notion that love should be steadfast, unbending and unconditional. This belief was evident in all its splendor when he showed a 50-piece wedding collection at the ongoing Philippine Fashion Week, illustrating his love for his craft, dedication to his brides and grooms and fidelity to his family.
A darling of the press as well of celebrities, a Peralta show wouldn’t be complete without the participation of some famous faces. Though both childless after years of marital bliss, a stunning Assunta de Rossi and a tense Agot Isidro still looked as radiant as new bride Joyce Jimenez. Young mom Valerie Concepcion and hopelessly in love Mariel Rodriguez also donned wedding ensembles.
To make his gala more memorable, Peralta created 50 looks worn by 50 models (no changes!), and for 23 kids as flower girls (with FJ, his seamstress’s daughter, stealing the show with her cute antics) and ring bearers. Like his flamboyant outfits, Peralta hardly pulled any punches for this production, and you can expect the multiawarded designer to mount another extraordinary show in the not-too-distant future.
But Aquino was on hand for “Aspirer,” the concept of which—from the inspiration, music and staging—was the brainchild of Ortiz. “We know that a fashion show is the call of the designer. But Jackie embraced my concept,” and the best buddies of 30 years presented a seamless blending of ideas to produce a show that evoked a nostalgic feeling long before it was over.
