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AUGGIE
CORDERO is a designer of prodigious talents, and when he
decided, after much prodding from his best friend, the
lifestyle maven Thelma Sioson San Juan, to showcase his
mastery of the craft after a 13-year absence from the
fashion circus, the style industry held its collective
breath. After all, Cordero remains fashion’s most
intriguing figure.
By his
own admission, months before what was shaping up to be
the most-awaited fashion event of the year, with Samsung
and Metro Society footing the bill, Cordero made more
than a thousand sketches, including his fantasy designs.
Exercising prior restraint, the hallmark of a true
designer, he drastically self-edited, with about 75
designs initially slated for execution but with only 51
ultimately ending up on the final lineup for
presentation on the runway of the Rigodon Ballroom of
the Peninsula Manila.
Nuptials and nice.
Izza
Gonzales, Joanne Bitagcol and Suyen Chi as Cordero
brides
So
everyone converged at The Pen not a few nights ago, with
high hopes and even greater expectations, most
especially from the giddy Pretty Young Press, who will,
for the first time in their charmed existence, get to
witness a Cordero complete collection; and his confreres
who came to lend solid support, ranging from the Old
Guard (Pitoy Moreno, Ben Farrales, Nolie Hans), his
contemporaries (Rusty Lopez, Greg Centeno, Loretto, Lulu
Tan Gan, Cesar Gaupo, Barge Ramos, Edgar Madamba, Mike
de la Rosa), their next-in-line (Frederick Peralta,
Randy Ortiz, Anthony Nocom, Vittorio, Rhett Eala) and
the New Guard (Ivarluski Aseron, Puey Quiñones, Louis
Claparols, Hindy Weber Tantoco, James Reyes).
THE blooming Patty Betita,
soon to be a bride.
One of
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s favorite designers,
JC Buendia, expresses his admiration: “I like the short
[Alencon] lace dresses with marabou feathers. They’re
glamorous and fun at the same time.” To which society
darling Rajo Laurel echoes: “I loved the feathered
dresses. They looked so amazing and playful. They were
so dreamy.” Young up-and-comer Joey Samson observes: “I
particularly liked the gray/brown/taupe tiered [Italian
linen] shapeless pieces, for they are not typically
Cordero. I love them because there’s so much volume, yet
there’s still restraint.”
As a
long-time fan of Cordero, Ito Curata admires “his
classic silhouettes, impeccable craftsmanship, as well
as his ability to stay in touch with today’s fashion
trends,” while It designer Dennis Lustico lavishes some
more praise: “The wedding gowns [impressed me the most].
I think they’re very well-crafted. I love the details
and embellishments.”
With
decades of excellence in the design business, Cordero
has mastered the formula of working on a collection.
“Seventy-five percent is about the fabric and lining; 20
percent is the cutting and silhouette; and 5 percent is
the ornamentation and embellishment.”
Knitwear
queen Lulu Tan Gan says: “It was a great experience at
the show. It brought back time, when designers were
known because good design came with proper fitting and
quality craftsmanship. Today marketing has
fast-forwarded fame and success of many designers.”
MARINA BENIPAYO brings it
on.
To the
beat of the direction of Ariel Lozada (who will also
direct a gala for Cordero rival and notable absentee,
Inno Sotto, in October), models señoras and upstarts (glammed
up by Patrick Rosas, taller because of the Lila Almario
shoes, with Jewelmer and Oliver accessories) strode down
the runway. In dupione silk pantsuits, lace separates,
duchesse satin eveningwear and brocade suits (usually
paraded in groups, somewhat a variation of the Hyatt
theme of yesteryears), the clothes came. And confounded.
BADETTE VINALON lovely in
lace cocktail.
What
happened? This was the withering and overwhelming
question on everyone’s lips, though only whispered so as
not to upset a pillar of the industry.
Perhaps
my own perplexity was due to my happy notion of Cordero
that he would appropriate the clothes of Audrey Hepburn
(Roman Holiday, Funny Face, Breakfast
at Tiffany’s), Grace Kelly (High Society,
Rear Window, To Catch a Thief) and Jackie (as
Bouvier, Kennedy, Onassis and almost Tempelsman). High
class. Polished. Flawless. Those clothes that can only
be conjured by the designer to suit the wearer, to fit
them perfectly like they were measured down to the
squarest inch.
Alas,
when the señoras Apples Aberin, Izza Gonzales and Suyen
Chi made their first appearance, they had to lift the
skirts of their wedding gowns as they were evidently
longer than intended. Waifs-like Kim Ross and Jasmine
Maierhoefer similarly wore ill-fitting bridal finery.
The clothes were exquisite, excellent and superb, but
they didn’t embrace the models just right.
At his
atelier a week after the show (“I thought I could rest
after a week, but since I didn’t accept any clients for
three months because of the show, I had to buckle down
to work immediately”), Cordero was also bewildered. “I
had the models fit the gowns. The ones that didn’t suit
them were ‘killed.’”
When
Suyen Chi, the catwalk queen during her time, glided
like an ingénue à la Leslie Caron in Gigi or Audrey in
Sabrina, she was woefully miscast. Had Nicolette Bell,
now a flight attendant, or even Mia Ayesa, worn the
mostly white lace cocktail, which I think is the design
du jour of the collection, it would have been sublime.
Cordero
defends his choice of Chi: “I had four models wear that
gown during the fittings. A señora suggested that I give
that to someone younger. If I did that, mapapahamak
naman ako. I wanted someone to give that justice, to
project a happy-melancholy mood. Suyen gave me that.”
Cordero
didn’t conduct model go-sees before the gala. For the
perfectionist that he is, and with his fastidiousness in
every aspect of his work, this proved to be tragic. He
relied on photographs and set cards submitted to him.
Models could easily be unknowing of their fluctuating
vital statistics, adding an inch or two to their height
or subtracting a pound or more from their weight. He
admitted to some disappointments with some models who he
thought would “shine” that night but performed short.
But he found another Anna Bayle in Rowena Rebosano—exotic,
tall, a classic Filipina.
And, of
course, there was the magnificent Marina Benipayo, in
plum Swiss taffeta and point d’esprit with black ruffles
and lace veil. “I nearly cried when I saw her onstage,”
Cordero says. “I told her before the show to give it her
all, to prove that she’s still the best. And she did. If
I were to join a show with only a single model, I would
pick Marina.”
After
the gala, at the cocktail area and at The Pen’s classy
restaurants where he mixed with his guests (including
Lorna Laurel, Ernie and Jeena Lopez, Philip Cruz,
Marivic Madrigal Vasquez, Yaying Dragon, Ching Cruz,
Bettina Osmeña, Baby Girl Fricke, Menchu Katigbak,
Conchita Toda, Doody Tuason, Frannie Jacinto, Dawn
Zulueta Lagdameo, Crickette Tantoco and Techie Hagedorn),
Cordero looked relieved and revitalized. His favorite
Margaritas (Tingting Cojuangco and Margie Moran) were
also on hand to lend him support. Cojuangco was
ravishing in a 27-paneled piña that Cordero created for
her for her daughter Mai-Mai’s wedding in
Italy.
“This is
not a comeback. I was never away,” the gracious designer
says. After 13 years of absence from the mad limelight,
he was again basking in the afterglow of glory. A
standing ovation from
Manila’s
well-heeled does not happen that often, and Cordero
again held back his tears, more so when Cojuangco asked:
“Are you happy?” Controlling himself, “Yes,” he replied.
“Good, because it’s a great show.”
His
colleagues incessantly convince him to participate in
more fashion events, so he would see today’s crop of
models do their stuff, the better for him to select who
he likes for his future shows. It would ease his preshow
jitters and nervousness, too. Cordero is amenable to the
idea. “I could feel the excitement again,” he says. He
agreed to open the Professional Models Association of
the Philippines 20th anniversary show in September. “But
only with the señoras I had in my show,” he quips.
However
confused some of us may have been with some parts of his
collection, the fact remains that Cordero showed them to
the public because he was satisfied with them. “It was
worth it.” He liked his clothes, and so will his
fiercely loyal clientele. And that’s what matters most. |
