Philip Rodriguez: The Neo Romantique

Romance is in the air and it's not just because Valentine's Day is fast edging into the midst of our subconscious, no matter how we try to push it back. Not that I'm cynical about love, mind you. Being a fashion scribe, my line of thinking is almost always in terms of mood, mode, silhouette and inspiration. In layman's lingo it can be further translated into either a fashion show or a fashion pictorial.

Case in point: Philip Rodriguez' Spring Romance collection in floaty and nostalgic confections inspired by a Botticelli painting and the bygone era of the 60s. Why such a quirky mix? "I would like to re-live the quality of life back then. Botticelli's Birth of Spring features blushing young girls swathed in frothy fabrics that openly suggest the light thumping of the heart when a paramour is in mind, sans the mundane. Combine it with 60's styling of bouffant hair and finely khol-ed eye and you get pangs of never-ending nostalgia," remarked Cebu's fashion czar Philip Rodriguez. A progenitor of dreams, and himself a visionary, he has every woman in mind when he creates something. After all, behind every woman, a princess persona waits to be unleashed to charm everyone with her grace and fragility. Sure, we have Lara Croft, but I bet she would like to wear one of Philip Rodriguez' dreamy bolts of chiffon. To be a princess, even for a day.