Fashion Innovation

Chic sportswear is making a slow comeback in the seasons to come probably giving a stylish welcome to the coming Olympics.  The new take is bringing the sporty look into everyday wear as it blends perfectly in today's lifestyle.  Designer brands are coming together in reinventing the look of the times.  Chic brand Zegna Sport's Collection Autumn Winter 2011-2012 is leading the pack in reshaping urban sportswear with design and technological innovation.  The notable designer name generally introduces new style forward inventions to the the line namely THERMOTENE, ECO-WARMER, INDRO NAPPA JACKET and KNITWEAR . Thermotene is the revolutionary ultra-high performance fabric absorbing the sunlight’s infrared rays.  Eco-Warmer bring a new “sustainable project” by Zegna Sport made by 100% recycled contents used for padding, lining, outer fabric, seam taping and the inner collar hood to provide an ecologically “green” product. Idro Nappa jacket brings style and wearability as it combines ultra soft lamb nappa with lightshell nylon.  While knitwear comes anew using  Lightshell water repellent nylon combined with merino wool.  

Zegna Sport fuses technical sport inspired design with quality and comfort.  A side from the apparel line, accessories for men are making the big leap as well in bags(quilted ultra soft leather with hardware details) and must-buy sneakers.  Brave the rainy season in style worthy pieces perfect for both the indoors and outdoors.

In the Philippines, Ermenegildo Zegna is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) and is located at Rustan’s Makati.

Cento of Attention

Diamonds are forever.  For the most famous and precious stone in the world, this fascinating natural wonder ceases to capture the world with its captivating beauty.  Renowned brand Roberto Coin introduces Cento--an enchanting diamond with 100 facets which is almost double from  nearly twice the facets from the traditional round brilliant cut. A masterpiece inspired the art of uniqueness, the creation's outstanding luster is exceptionally adored for its allure and rarity.  How can one resist distinct brilliance in 100 facets displaying a remarkable kaleidoscopic effect beyond the countless ordinary.  These fine pieces displays a unique floral pattern--an obra maestra as a result of the ability, experience and skill of the master cutter. 
Roberto Coin guides you to purchase the best diamonds and the “4 C’s” of Cento based on the code of classification of diamonds in 4 main parameters namely Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight.  Cut --Diamonds are cut with utmost care, attention and passion within the high quality standards.  Color. --The perfect choice are only colorless and near colorless diamonds.  The more transparent and colorless, the more precious and rare.  Clarity -- the diamonds belong to the first levels of the clarity range: from FL (flawless) to SI (small inclusions, not visible to the naked eye). And lastly, Carat Weight  wherein the 100 facet cut is applied to all diamonds weighting from 0.07 carat and larger. The guaranteed value of a Cento diamond is that all weigh 0.25 carats and above, are accompanied by a certificate of quality graded by the Gemological Institute of America(GIA).  What sets Roberto Coin's mark of distinction is the exclusive signature ruby hidden on the inside of each masterpiece. Truly a cut above the rest.

White Gold Ring with Diamonds with Diamonds 1.04 CT Ruby 0.011 CT.

White Gold Ring with Diamond with Central Diamond 0.57 CT Ruby 0.02CT

Diamond Gold Ring with Diamonds with Diamonds 0.05CT Central Diamond 1.07 CT Ruby 0.02 CT

Roberto Coin is exclusively available at Rustan’s Silvervault in Makati, Shangri-la Plaza and Newport City.

Life in a Capsule

Five full days working on a "capsule collection" for a menswear section of a major department store is no joke.  Doing one is like doing a basic style guide to educate buyers with simple visuals on how to put a look together.  Though the past five days maybe quite tedious and taxing, with good company and laughter every so often, the feeling is just like doing some school project with a lot fun ( plus food and coffee) in between.  Sometimes the most difficult to style is really dressing up in basics.  This means stripping everything added on (accessories) to camouflage or highlight a look and making something super clean and simple.  Piling up one thing over the other is easy and style opens its door to a multitude of facets but the work at hand required quite the opposite. Making extraordinary with the ordinary entails a lot of brain activity resulting to a process of constant deduction--thus, less is more. The team was tasked to put together more than eight sardine packed racks spanning over 5 categorical divisions--in the beginning we thought this lookbook exercise was an endless ordeal that would probably take one more than a week to achieve.  If you think dressing up real people is hard, then try doing it with mannequins--the fit has to be perfect.  It was no easy feat or a walk in the park but with sheer dedication, focus and undivided attention, everything worked out as planned.  And after the all those days being encapsulated by products inside the head office, the team realized one facet of fashion styling which is the essence of back to basics.

Let's face it.

Ebony.

Metallic.

Which is which?

Tabula rasa.

All racked up.

Secret code.

Shutter speed.

Helping hands.

Stripped down.

All in the detail.

Style file.

Modern Preppy.

The team.  Revo Naval, Mikka Velasquez, Slegna Coo, Hannah de la Cruz, Rudolph Leonor and K Miranda ( and Jaja Bolos not in photo).

Mad World

Fashion this season is revisiting style eras and reinventing the past into the present.  A handful renowned brands are looking into fashion history and bringing back the old glory into the contemporary. Household name Banana Republic releases its first-ever limited edition “Mad Men” inspired collection for men and women this AW 2011.  Designed by Banana Republic in collaboration with Emmy® Award-winning “ Mad Men” Costume Designer Janie Bryant, the capsule presents an ultra modern take on the 1960's era.  The 65 piece collection of apparel and accessories for men and women evokes a polished feel with a mood of style and elegance made affordable in chic reinventions . The idea to is to replicate and channel the "Mad Men" look into the brand to create fashion inspired pieces for avid fans and followers.  There is an extensive range of soon to be must-haves to choose from to update one's wardrobe for the season to come.  For women they offer modern lady-like trench coats, tailored dresses, high-waisted skirts, silk tie-neck blouses and statement accessories while chunky-meets-streamlined knit sweaters, tailored suit separates, fitted trousers and classic accessories such a money clip, cotton pocket squares, silk ties, tie bars and fedora hats for men. Style has gone really mad this season, time to shop till you drop as the latest collection hits the Banana Republic stores locally this August. 

Banana Republic is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Casual Clothing Specialists, Inc. (CCSI), a subsidiary of Stores Specialists, Inc., and is available at Greenbelt 5 and Rustan’s Department Store Makati.

Cravings

Healthy options.

One saturday late afternoon, a good friend of mine Noel Manapat brought this author to a Korean restaurant called Min Sok Saeng Deung Sim and since then there's this urge to keep on coming back.  How can one resist good food? Located somewhere in the labyrinth near Rockwell center is this gastronomic heaven of Korean cuisine.  Don't expect it to be something fancy,the old house converted into a restaurant is very simple, laid back and has no pretense (yes and no air conditioning as well).  This author came back with his associates a week after and was so excited to introduce food made in heaven.  As soon as one makes an order, the first thing that comes to the table is an assortment of kimchi as appetizers--major yummy!!! One has to try the different types and levels of spice that comes with it.  Next was the uber delicious tofu soup filled with veggies and meat slices so perfect to get you into the mood to pig out. For our main course we ordered the highly recommended Samgyeopsal (translated as three "sam" layered "gyeop" meat "sal") which is basically pre-cut pork belly.  As soon as they half-cook the belly, you can do two things:  first is either wrap it in lettuce leaves and stuff it with grilled garlic and onions which you then dip into two condiments (one of them is sesame seed oil with salt and pepper).  Or secondly, you can skip the wrapping and go straight to dipping into the condiments and eat the meat with rice (though the first step is a little healthier).  Of course we ended up ordering another one plus the beef and lengua ( ox tongue) cuts as well. Everything served is fresh( or freshly cut) and cooked in front of you.  At the end of the meal this author was on a food coma and officially declared being hooked to Min Sok.  Tried going there on another time with a different group and the place was super packed so we decided eat somewhere else and come back soon.  Parking in the area can be a bit of a pain coz the place is always packed.  One important note to tell is make sure you don't have any plans of going somewhere else after Min Sok, if you do, then you might have to go home first and take a good shower.  Min Sok is located at 5655 Don Pedro St. Poblacion, Makati City.

Helping hands.

Veggie delight.

Center stage.

Can't get enough of kimchi.

Condiments.

Soup for the soul.

Perfect combination of porkloin, onions and garlic.

Spicy noodles with vinegar and mustard dressing.

And since we are on the topic of food, do you have what it takes to cook up a masterpiece and take on the spotlight?  For more inquiries log on to www.asianfoodchannel.com/nextafcchef .  Who knows this could be your chance of a lifetime.