FASHION FEATURE 1
Meet the women behind some of the most successful fashion brands in the country
Meet the women behind some of the most wanted Filipina fashion brands
Plains & Prints recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in the retail industry. Surrounded by her collaborators, muses and the P&P team, Farillas shared her gratitude to all the women who supported the brand and who eventually become her inspiration to always push the envelope. When she started the business with her now-husband Erickson Farillas, she always maintained that fashion’s purpose was to empower women. This concept was translated into every collection the brand released. Signature P&P prints include fun prints, wearable silhouettes and the flexibility to be styled up or down, depending on the occasion. Designer collaborations has also helped the brand and its customers grow and be noticed by the industry. Through it all, Farillas has led with unprecedented success. By launching R.A.F Manila, the premium sister brand of P&P, Farillas has captured a wider range of women, perhaps with a different approach to fashion, but with the same desire to empower.
KCRIS ROQUE OF KAMISETA
Who could forget driving through EDSA in the early 2000s and seeing the massive Kamiseta billboards featuring Hollywood darlings Kate Hudson and Natalie Portman? Kamiseta was one of the first brands to tap international stars as their ambassadors, forever changing the game in local Philippine fashion. This power move was mostly due to the creative powerhouse Cris Roque. Together with her husband, Gunn Roque, she has built a fashion empire that celebrates fun and excitement of fashion. The brand’s recent partnership with with international style star and local sweetheart Heart Evangelista, which featured the actress’s original paintings, Kamiseta took wearable art to new heights. The collection carefully took Evangelista’s feminine creations and layed them on chic and classic silhouettes. One could either make a head-to-toe statement or pair them with basics, which, coupled with Evangelista’s style power, made it an easy hit. Thinking outside the fashion box, the brand branched out to the hospitality business with Kamiseta Hotel and with aesthetic dermatology via Kamiseta Skin. Beyond just a look, Kamiseta aims to become provide a lifestyle for its loyal and future clients.
HMIA SAN AGUSTIN OF HARLAN & HOLDEN
With her business partner, Eman Pineda, Mia San Agustin envisioned a brand that would exceed trends and embrace a certain kind of timeless cool. After working in PR and Communications for luxury brands such as Gucci and Stella McCartney, San Agustin flew back to the Philippines and joined Harlan & Holden a year after its conception. The resulting collections cemented a Harlan & Holden look and style, full of ease, style and comfort—a mix that is hard to nail. Women flocked to its stores, eager to slip into their featherweight Camino footwear or don the latest shift or shirt dress. Each piece was designed move with the body, fluid and deceptively simple, but with the ability to looked dressed up or casual. Even as trends came and went, the brand stuck to its core style principle and making unpredictable choices, such as launching a cafe and restaurant (the interiors of which are oh so on brand—clean mid-century design with a touch of feminine flair) where its core clientele could have boozy Sunday brunches or power breakfasts. But their biggest surprise to date was bagging internationally renowned Creative Director Alessandra Facchinetti, a move that spelled power as softly but clearly as their button-downs.