Style Narratives

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

All Luxed Up

Last weekend we had a shoot for a fairly new glossy called Luxe at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila and met their editor-in-chief /publisher Christine Daguno and associate editor Mikaela Lagdameo(one of Manila's supermodel who I knew way back from the days she was just starting out). The magazine( I think has been around a little more than two years) belongs to the fashion, beauty and lifestyle genre with almost a hundred pages and comes out quarterly in the market is the new player in the field.

Current issue with Anne Curtis on the cover.

Heart Evangelista.

Mikaela Lagdameo.

Ruffa Gutierrez.

Mikaela wearing an leopard printed sheer polo by Street Beat Boutique, Denim by Topshop,
shoes by Steve Madden, watch by Omega and motorcycle bag by Balenciaga.

Christine wearing animal printed top and jeans both by Zara, ballet flats and bag
both by Louis Vuitton, silver cuff by Tiffany and watch by Cartier.

Luxe editorial team.

Laurie Reyes of Hyatt.

The setting was in a suite with a balcony facing Manila Bay. We were given a warm welcome by Laurie Reyes from PR who was quite sweet and accommodating ( was missing Loni though who unfortunately wasn't able to join us that day). The theme for the magazine's summer issue was all about this season's biggest trend "bold brights". The team included photographer Doc Marlon, makeup artist Bambie Fuentes and the author as the stylist all doing celebrity Marian Rivera for the cover. With the theme in mind, clothes were specifically made by the current crop of young talented designers namely Mark Tamayo, Pablo Cabahug, Mica Santayana, Mikka Velasquez and Geoffrey Zordilla with Louis Claparols. Accessories were all by Joanique Co.( check previous blog entry) and shoes by Janylin.

Doc Marlon wearing a gray tee by 21 Men, gray jeans by Topman, cap and shoes
both by Zara, head scarf by H & M and sunglasses by Louis Vuitton.

Mikka wearing white polo from Wisdom, jeans by Jag, necklace by Forever 21, black cuff by
Tory Burch, watch by Fossil, navy blue bag by Longchamp and platforms by Matthews at CMG.

Kirby wearing v-neck striped shirt by Riot, gray denim by Oxygen, loafers
by Mario D Boro and bag by Memo.

Noelle wearing a black sweater by Forever 21, snakeskin skirt by H & M, black suede platform
shoes from Schizo by Kaye Morales, metal necklace, ring and bag all from a thrift shop.

Geoffrey wearing a striped long sleeve top by Penshoppe, gray pants from Bench, suede
black shoes from Otto, black bag from Rustans and accessories designed by himself.

Reg wearing animal printed top from a bazaar, leather skirt by TRF, suede bag
by Secosana and shoes by Parisian.

Rudolph wearing a checkered long sleeve top and black leader combat boots both by H & M,
pants from Pacific Summer, blue studded bracelet by Terranova, watch by Kenneth Cole and
sling bag by Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Mark wearing black long sleeve top from a thrift shop, black zipper hoodie jacket by LTD, military
green trousers designed by himself, military green high cuts from Zara and glasses from Topman.

Marian wearing a floral printed dress shirt, slips with floral embellishment and bag by Gucci.

The author wearing a white v-neck top by Banana Republic, baby blue trousers by
Joey Samson, graysuede lace ups by Fred Perry, black snakeskin nightingale by Givenchy
and sunglasses by Balenciaga.

The shoot turned out pretty well and quite fast( Marian is one of the easiest and fastest celebrities to work with). I've always loved Marian and her discipline when it comes to work. No hangups, very professional and quite down to earth. Dolling her up is fun and easy since she has a great figure( 23 waistline) and is more than willing to play around with our concept. The Luxe team were very nice and friendly so kudos to them. Never a dull moment getting all luxed up.

A glimpse of what's instore in the up and coming issue.

The author with Marian.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The artist called NAVO

I have once dreamed of becoming a fashion photographer but destiny led me to something else. Started collecting magazines since1986 until I finally gave them all up at the start of this year ( I distributed all of them to my kids). My collection included almost all the major international titles and having a library of them was so difficult to keep.  Name it, I had it even some of the titles which no longer exist. These magazines were my roots in fashion and I was always thrilled reading every single one of them page by page from front to back cover.

Great fashion photographers have been one of my soulful inspirations. Names such Avedon, Herb Ritts, Ellen Von Unwerth, Peter Lindberg,Craig McDean, Nick Knight, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Solve Sundsbo, Mert Allas and Marcus Piggott, David Sims, Greg Kadel, Camilla Akrans and Mario Sorrenti have brought out the life of fashion in me. Their masterful works as seen through their brilliant eyes and talent are visual stimulations igniting the magic of creativity.

In the Philippines, astounding works of Jun De Leon, Neil Oshima, Wig Tysman, Lita Puyat, Ronnie Salvacion, Ricky Villabona, Raymund Isaac, Raymond Lontok,Toto Labrador, Francis Abraham, Lilen Uy, Xander Angeles and Erik Llongoren filled the pages of glossies when the magazine publishing empires were in its infantile stage adding color and life to their pages. Almost a decade after came the rise of the new wave of talented fashion photographers namely Sara Black, Mark Nicdao, Joan Bitagcol, Paolo Pineda, Jake Versoza, Pat Dy, Tommy Zablan and Kai Huang. Photography at the time was rising in popularity and as a result became one of the more lucrative profession among the young. Thus paving the way for a new breed of photographers and one of them is Lope Navo.

Almost 5 years ago I met Navo through a good friend and renowned stylist Noel Manapat. He just started taking pictures and came back to Manila from working in Singapore and Dubai as a graphic designer. Armed with a beginners portfolio, as creative director of Metro magazine back then,we decided to give his talent a shot. Impressed by his work, he had quite a stint with the magazine doing fashion editorials and special features. In a short time, everyone was already putting a face to the name and soon he was working for most of the top glossies in Manila. But Lope had bigger goal in mind, to try it out in the international market so he decided to pack his bags and left for the US.

Fast forward to today, its been four years since he's left and back with him is an extensive portfolio of his works in the international arena. Still making a name for himself, the artist is known for his sexy imagery of both men and women. His works display a certain point of view with a mood and feel that's refreshing to the eye. His expertise lies in capturing the human anatomy is sculpture like appeal.  After shooting for campaigns, fashion editorials, magazine covers, lookbooks, model's portfolios, catalogues, and coming out with an international book entitled "Stark", he's now back for a brief stay in Manila. Lope Navo is humbled by his exposure and opportunities to work in the global scene. He admits he still has a long way to go and is challenged to face whatever's instore fo him. Thinking big, the artist is starting his second book entitled "exotica" which hopefully comes out next year. Proud of his roots, Navo is dead set to follow his dreams and make a name for Filipinos in the world of fashion photography.  No doubt in his own little way,  the artist will make his country proud.

   His first international book entitled "STARK" by LOPE NAVO.