HAVE SHOES, WILL TRAVEL!

Certainly, this is one of the highlights in our styling career as we've witnessed SM SHOES & BAGS make history with their first ever solo (departmental) show in the recent Philippine Fashion Week last Oct. 24.

I mean, history in a sense that no other local shoe brand in mind has ever come up with a grandiose event that featured SM's in-house footwear brands in a superb single show (talk about production cost): Salvatore Mann, Milanos, Tough Kids and the ever-formidable Parisian. Although Parisian used to join PFW before; they used to have a small segment with SM Ladies Fashion.

Travel in style... That's the overall theme of the show that was directed by Robby Carmona. Ground-to-ceiling LED screens that changed in display per segment provided the backdrop for the runway that oozed with lots of jetset appeal. The A-list crowd had a feel of what it was like to be in different parts of the world via different modes of transporation - all in one day.


I. SALVATORE MANN
Salvatore Mann is SM's higher-end shoes and bags brand for men, with shoes mostly inspired by Italian formal footwear. They kicked off the show as if the models were coming out from an airplane that just landed. Shoes made of black and brown leather, burnished-toed lace-ups and formal winged-tips were styled first-class (by Mader Luis Espiritu), matched with impeccable suits and fur coats designed by top designer Joey Samson.

II. MILANOS
Milanos is actually my baby SM brand. In this segment, the audience were transported via cruise control with a ship liner on the background. There were three footwear categories that were shown in this segment - trendy oxford-types & colored soles, colored flats and lace-ups, and ankle boots. Each shoe category were assigned a particular outfit color: all-white, all-neutral and all-black. I styled per category with different clothing getups that take on the trendier Milanos look. I am so glad and thankful that people came up to me after the show, telling that they liked the overall chic styling and the wonderful clothes that we commissioned young designers Rica Rico (for the leather tops) and Jeffrey Rogador (for suits, jackets, pants, trenchies, vests, rompers) to do.

III. TOUGH KIDS & SUGAR KIDS
The runway becomes the playground for these cute little kids that Millet Arzaga concocted while garbed in militant-style ankle boots & street-punk rubber shoes for the boys (Tough Kids), and velveteen boots & jelly flats for the girls (Sugar Kids).

IV. PARISIAN
SM's foremost footwear brand seems unstoppable with Parisian showcasing a powerful lineup of shoes and bags that will have any fashionable lady walk the talk. The collection boasts of three shoe categories - the European Courtier, the Oriental Chopine and the Russian Military. My partner George Palmiano did a very good job styling all the pieces that looked tremendously fierce on the runway, thanks to the very talented designers Louis Claparols (for European courtier & Oriental chopine segments) and upstart Rica Rico (for Russian military segment) for lending a helping hand.

Geo and I are extremely grateful to Ms. Rina Lacia-Bugayong for having us a part of history-making for SM Shoes & Bags, as well as to Mr. Eugene Saw, Ms. Felanie Lim, Ms. Karen Siy, Naomi Matsuda Monzon, Marielle Mikkelsen, Tin Francisco, Nico Chu, Christian Sia, Ricci del Rosario, Roseanne Salcedo, and the other amazing people of LTBG. Thanks to the whole MGP team who assisted us backstage (Sheila Danipog, Darrell Bautista, Maika Dy, Rosie de Asis, etc.), as well as to Adfolio, to Bobby Carlos & his makeup team, and to Direk Robbie Carmona & his production staff.

Check out SM Shoes and Bags PFW collection now available in SM Department Stores nationwide.





NOTE: All photos from daddyjoey.com and from the website of Philippine Fashion Week c/o Runway Productions