Me In Business Mirror

Another set of the photos I took at the recently concluded Samsung Metrowear with the FDCP Trend Show were featured at the front page of the Life section of Business Mirror yesterday. I received a late SMS from the writer regarding the feature and went out to look for a copy. I've been sending SMS to my friends asking them if they've got a copy but to no avail. So I went out and look for one. I got my copy from a ministop in Aurora Blvd. (took me hours to get one because all copies were sold out already from other stores).

Again thanks to Sir Dong Omaga-Diaz for making this happen (thanks for the SMS too - informing me about it, even it's late you care to congratulate me). Thanks to God, my family, friends and colleagues.

The photos can also be seen online at the Business Mirror website. So if you fail to grab a copy just check it out online.

BTW, they give me credit for the photos this time. Below is the article:

By C. Mendez Legaspi

Photographed by Henry Anima II

Dong Omaga-Diaz feels like the morning calm. As the newly minted president of the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines (FDCP), which counts among its members the most productive and influential creative minds in fashion design, he is basking in the successful staging of the group’s recent gala. “I’m elated with all the compliments I’ve been getting from friends and, most importantly, from the FDCP membership. This inspires me to continue weaving new dreams for the group,” Omaga-Diaz says. Much will truly be expected from him and the progressive group as last year its forecasts and inspired ideas were sorely missed on the runway. At the Jackie Aquino-directed Metrowear series show at the Rockwell Tent, with Bedouin-like tents placed distractingly in the middle of the runway, 24 FDCP members posited their “fashion innovations.” As is my practice, I pick only the 10 most interesting pieces from the pocket collections. To achieve a unified look, members worked on themes also reverberating across the globe today: Club Arab (think Casablanca, The English Patient,Morocco, Lawrence of Arabia, Queen Rania, Yasmine Aga Khan), Cold Africa (think Mogambo, Out of Africa, The African Queen, Ernest Hemingway, Charlize Theron) and Gaea, the goddess of the earth who bore and married Uranus, and became the mother of the Titans and the Cyclops (guess who the designers were thinking of when they crafted their clothes). But if you ask me, they could have worked on any of the assigned themes and we wouldn’t have been able to tell which was which. Ivar Aseron created for Bianca Valerio an oversized tweed jacket with gray pique top and pants. Vittorio Barba made a black hand-pintucked tulle sheath dress accessorized with stainless-steel bangles and red-patent gladiators, giving the fragile Grace Tagle a dominatrix edginess. Rocky Salumbides, fresh from signing up with the Ford Models agency, was a virile vision in Joey Samson’s gray wool and knit coverall with zipper details, utilitarian pockets and glove sleeves. The jacket gave a funky formal feel. I wondered where the showstoppers were—Dennis Lustico, Nono Palmos, Larry Espinosa. The three designers had resigned from the group. Still, the most theatrical of them all—Frederick Peralta—delivered the fabulous goods: silver sensations that Marlene Dietrich would have loved to be seen and photographed in. Gerry Katigbak dressed Lotus van Heddegem in two layers of silk chiffon in ecru and lilac, with emphasis on the kimona sleeves and geometric embroidery beaded bib, and brocade pants in beige. Randy Ortiz made Ria Bolivar a splendid peplum jacket with palazzo pants in plaid brown and taupe combination in linen wool with a detachable capelet. Two ravishing variations of the suit were created by Ramon Esteban (for the sizzling-hot Akihiro Sato) and PJ Aranador (for the half-Italian stallion Joe Ozbot). Inspired by the landscape and colors of the Sahara, Arcy Gayatin clothed Grace Tagle in a handpleated caramel jersey embellished with suede that she cut into honeycomb patterns with metal-watch components. It was fitting that Omaga-Diaz closed the gala on a high-flying note, with a fantastic safari-inspired tweed jacket paired with a lace ballskirt embellished with beads and feathers. After a rousing start, here’s hoping that the FDCP under Omaga-Diaz will regain its preeminence in the fashion front.