The Fashion Religion

One month from now, sartorial virtuosity will be accumulated in 5 days. The kingdom of appearances will be celebrated by a court of fashion industry people, dominated by a sea of silhouettes which are patterned by geometric planes and fluid waves - made buoyant by architectural severity on feet. - Daryl Chang

While I was curating my outfit for next week, the same sentiments I had last season kept bothering me. It's a philosophical question - is fashion really liberating or enslaving? This post is an updated version of the one I did last season.

People assert their individuality through their clothes. I like to defy silhouette and fluidity so my "trademark" has always been a scarf and multiple layers of accessories since I was in high school. (tried to tame it down in college unless the occasion requires). This season, I'd like to play with textures and prints.

Through chictopia.com and lookbook.nu, we have seen a lot of fashion icons emerge. The internet has allowed fashion bloggers to inspire other people and shatter their chains from being slaves of the ordinary. We assert our individuality even to the point of being actualized. A vision is created and displayed through our clothes.

But there are these temples around the globe which houses the likes of Aliona Doletskaya (Russia), Alexandra Shulma (United Kingdom), Franca Sozzani (Italy), Immanuel Alt (France) and their head deity, Anna Wintour (United States). These gods together with their creative directors dictate what to wear. With their blessing, new designers are catapulted immediately high up the bejeweled fashion ladder.

Here in the Philippines, fashion shows don't start without Pauline Juan and I guess Sari Yap too. We were dressing up the models for a fashion show last year and we had to sacrifice the planned schedule because Pauline Juan wasn't done inspecting all the clothes for the runway. They are dictate through their inspirations from the west, what designers here in the country should do.

From the runway, these designs will trickle down to trend-stealing-unoriginal-black-holes-of-creativity stores like Zara and Forever 21. (Although we need them) And here comes a shopper who wants to assert her individual style as a chic power bitch who'll purchase a Givenchy-patterned leggings from F21 and a Chanel-inspired bolero from Zara, never knowing that these trends are dictated and their quest to assert individuality is just an illusion.

But of course, there are those Herculean fashion icons who are stoic or at least adapt effortlessly to these waves of trends. They are those who live by Yves Saint Laurent's words "fashion fades, style is eternal" and I hope these modern day heroes of individuality will continue doing what they do best - staying fierce and fabulous. They are being immortalized right now in the sartorial heaven.

I did an interview before where they asked me to define what fashion is. More that being an expression of one's self, fashion is a mechanism for us to cope up with the harsh hardness of reality. Designers are the most insecure people I know so they use these internal hurts/pains/passions and channel them into masterpieces. Alexander McQueen, according to Karl Lagerfeld flirted with death a lot. You can see it in his designs. Look at where he is now. Still he remains immortal.

People You Work With

Going out of the university where I came from can be difficult because you have to adjust to the different environment outside. I'm not saying my school is that different from everybody else's background but there's that "twang" or mentality that if i'm not conscious about, can turn people off.

I realized that 200 pesos can really mean a lot to someone. It's their lunch, merienda, transpo back and forth. To someone, that's just his gas fee for the day. We are only two Ateneans in the company so it's a good thing that I can share these observations to her. Life can be very difficult for some people.

I was also able to see how graduates from UP and La Salle think. I'll try to explain this part with as much candor and truth based from what I saw out there. Graduates from UP are very aggressive and energetic. They like people who think like themselves. People from La Salle are relaxed and unfortunately a bit slow. One of my trainers is a La Sallian and I had fun asking him difficult questions like industry growth, market share and corporate social responsibility, just for the hang of it:))

I was also able to work with a Bangladeshi who came from the royal strata. His salary before joining our company ranges from 200-300k pesos a month as head of sales in LG Electronics but he's with us because he wants to learn the marketing that we do. We started on the same day in the company and he became one of my first friends there. Can you believe it? I'm friends with a royalty!

There's also Raine (not sure how her name is spelled) who used to own a magazine similar to that of Status. She was the one who started with a concept of an alternative indie magazine before the Hererras but she told me that during the height of the magazine's career, she stopped it:| Don't know why. And she told me I'm one of the very few Ateneans that she liked!:D

Smiling is the key to building rapport with these people. Smile is a universal language that anyone from any background can understand. It's something that I had to learn because I'm usually cold and choosy with people. So do the world a little favor and smile some more!

Millionaire by 24

It can be done.

I have a confession to make. I am jealous of the younger people who are more accomplished than I am. I'm surrounded by a few and they make me feel insecure. These are the people who have built strong solid brands, have influenced more people and have changed the culture of an institution because of the product of their magnificence. I'm planning to do the same but it is taking a while. Nevertheless, it can be done. This will hopefully help me become a millionaire by age 24. I wish.

I'm sure you are familiar with Joey Concepcion's Go Negosyo book. I gave copies to some friends but it was only last week that I bought something for my own. I need this book. You need motivation to get you started, but you need inspiration if you want to keep moving - and that book provides just that. It is comforting to read some stories of hope from these people. I always ask myself, if they can do it, why can't I?

I want to be a millionaire by 24 and going to office everyday in a corporate attire won't make the cut. It isn't enough. There must be a better way so I'm taking the road less traveled by building the Manila Kid brand and the bamboo farm in Quezon province (although this is one heck of a project). Definitely easier said than done because even right now there are already frustrations on the way but you gotta keep moving if you want to reach for those dreams.

If I were to give a tip to someone who has plans of making it big, I suggest he keep his goals close to him, literally. Put it on a piece of paper and post in on your room cork board, your book mark, your windshield or anywhere where you can see it easily. And believe that you can. Believing in your self is where it all starts - that's where you'll get that passion to drive yourself to success.

And when life fucks you - like what Justin Bieber said - never say never.

Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

Passion Without Direction

Sometimes I pause and ask myself why I'm doing too many things: from my involvement with UNICEF, our upcoming brand/movement Manila Kid, and my business together with my friends - Soya Ice. Recently, I'm only sleeping 5 hours a day just to make sure that everything gets delivered on time and with quality. Too many things happening on the same time can just sweep you off you feet and make you lose a sense of purpose. Passion without direction can be destructive after all.

I'm starting to think that I'm too ambitious. There's so much that I want to do that I don't know where to focus my efforts and I end up exhausting myself.

Sigh!

First Day of Work

I guess luck has always been there with me from the time I passed ACET up to now in finding my first job. I feel blessed and grateful to be working as a representative of UNICEF because it is something that I believe in and which work I will actually do voluntarily because of the kids.

The starting salary (which can match a finance job in an international bank) I say is an added bonus because the thing that will keep me going, aside from knowing that I'm helping improve children's lives, are the many traveling opportunities that come with my job. My trainer, which is also an Atenean, went to Malaysia on her fifth day!

The promotion in our company is extremely fast. There are basically five levels to the job program that I'm in and upon reaching the top, I can choose my own office to run (all capital and expenses paid) and can ear six digits!!! Some people have done it in a span of less than 2 years with the company at age 24! Unbelievable right?

But I have to be honest, I have to extend long hours of work - like working for 12 hours. It isn't a desk job so we'll be in a new place everyday, sometimes in provinces for a week doing information campaigns. I'll get to meet a lot of people from different backgrounds, which will make the job very interesting and non-monotonous.

It was my first day earlier and I surprisingly enjoyed it. I made new friends but I have to be conscious with the way I speak because Ateneans have a certain way of speaking which might turn people off. It was all information overload day so I wasn't able to do well with the evaluation at the end of the day:

Evaluator: Who is the head of UNICEF in the Philippines. Clue, artista siya.
Me: (after a long pause) KC Concepcion?
FAIL:| It's actually Gary V.

I'm planning to convert my salary to tangible and intangible assets like buying the merchandise, funding the shoots and paying for our graphic designer/s for Manila Kid. I'm also starting with my bamboo farm which I'll call Talitha Bamboos so I'll be needing a researcher to study everything I need and want to know from choosing the right specie to developing the business aspect.

Conservatively, my target is to raise 5 million worth of assets in 5 years. I think I can raise 2 million from my job with UNICEF and the rest will hopefully come from Soya Ice, Manila Kid and Talitha Bamboos. It's an ambitious project, but I knew some people in the company who are earning three digits per month on their second year in the company so hopefully, it isn't possible.

I'm still early tomorrow! Will definitely bring my fighting attitude to work!

Forever Young, Forever 21

I'm on a Peter Pan meets Dorian Grey syndrome right now. Tomorrow will be the official start of my life in the working class (que horror the word!) and I can't explain here the emotionally induced vomits I'm trying to recover from while blogging. It feels like the night before I entered college - the difference is, I knew some people back then but this time it's totally different.

I really don't know what to expect because this isn't school where you'll look forward to your new classmates, teachers, subjects and the light at the end of the tunnel - summer vacation, every year! Instead, you get to pay taxes (for most people), have a boss (of even your own life) and there's a great probability to lose ambition and idealism.

I want to be forever young, forever 21. I know this job will force out some maturity in me and I don't know why life has to be patterned in such a way - blame it on the entry of capitalism once again! I think getting a job straight out from college is not a good thing. I should have listened to my cousins and parents (for once) to take a break for a year than following the flow of my batchmates who think it's a necessity to get a job as soon as possible. I feel so unprepared.

After my first day at work, my mom will pick me up to have dinner. I'll try to write what happened tomorrow as soon as I get home.

PS: I'm back in Chictopia

Working Only with the Best

Last Tuesday, we went to Boni High Street to show our support for Alexis Bernardo because she's part of a shoot for DynaMedia Productions. She's the sister of a close friend and if you remember, she modeled for Manila Kid. 

Personally, I think there's potential in her because of the height and her interesting cheek bones. She's just 15 years old but she already landed a contract with Philippine Models Weekend. She's a bit stiff at first but with good direction and if the photographer can get the angles right, she'll go a long way.

If I were to be bold enough to give an advice: "Be indispensable." That works even for photographers and other creative minds. You can't be 100% indispensable but getting close to that means you have an edge against the ones out there. Give them a reason to hire you.

Here in Manila Kid, we don't just work with pretty or handsome faces. We only get the best to work with because the blogging world is watching and if the quality of our work is not at par with people's expectations, it might ruin us. Haha! We always strive that the quality is at its finest.

Right now we are trying to get one of the top five hottest upcoming models (according to Philippine Star) but she's busy with fittings and all since Philippine Fashion Week is just around the corner. As soon as May 15 is over, we'll shoot her for a Manila Kid promo!:) Stay tuned!

(the gowns were designed by Michelle Lim for Okasyon)

Habang May Abisyon Pa

I was having dinner with my cousins last night when one of them was telling us about the time when she wanted to be the mayor of this small town in order to rehabilitate this worn out bridge in a far flung province. "May ambisyon pa noon." That really hit me hard because after 10 years, what will become of the ambition that I have now?


But actually, most of my batchmates' ambition as I see it is slowly being eaten by the necessity to find a job. Hey, it's more practical right? After graduation, you get a job for a multinational company that pays you with car loans and tax. Great. It's just the way of life - to lose the passion and idealism molded by the educational system (or by our professors) because capitalism clawed its way into society.


I'm constantly bothered by the wasted or undirected passions of the newly graduates that will just feed big institutions which result to greater marginalization in our country. A meditation teacher (who used to be a marketing agent for Proctor and Gamble) warned me about these things. "It will destroy your soul."


The challenge is always to have that passion to keep us going and reaching for our goals. Getting a job might get us one step closer to these dreams but let us not lose sight of the bigger picture on the way. No one could have said it better: "If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you." - Steve Jobs

Right now, I have a lot of projects on the way like Manila Kid and the bamboo farm I'll be putting up in Lopez, Quezon province. I'll be going there next week with the rest of the family to do some study and see the potential of the project. 


I challenge everyone to aspire for something bigger than themselves and risk. There's more life in it that than sitting in a desk job taking orders from your boss who tells you to do otherwise that what you really think is right.