CEBU, Philippines - The school that has produced big names in the Philippine fashion industry such as Star Magic designer Francis Libiran, Jerome Ang, Ronaldo Arnaldo, Julius Tarog, Dennis Martin, menswear designer Zxander Tan, Ferdie Abuel, Pia Perey who designed Angelina Jolie’s gown during the premier of “Salt” and Hollywood designer Oliver Tolentino, to name a few, has officially opened in Cebu.
The Fashion Institute of the Philippines opened their launching with a fashion show on the last Sunday of January and presented designs from the students and training staff of school itself. FIP Directors from all over the Philippines such as Melody Pimentel (CDO), Ariel Lopez, Iross Santos, Cathy Binag, John Herera, Rene Salud and Shanon Pamaong.
“Cebu is not only the Queen City of the south, it’s also the fashion capital of the south - home to a lot of nationally known Filipino designers and the hub for fashionistas from the neighboring Visayan provinces/cities,” says Shanon. ”..having FIP in Cebu is very timely and exciting with positive reactions from Cebuanos and other guests who witnessed the impressive launching show. Opening a branch in Cebu is part of FIP’s effort to reach out to as many fashion-interested individuals who we hope will fill in the shortage or lack of assistants/staff with technical know-how experiened by a lot of local Cebu designers and hopefully in the very near future, armed with ebough experience and technical training, they themselves will become big names in the local, national... and maybe global fashion scene.”
Talk about a cheers-worthy event as models from Cebu and Manila swept the runway wearing creations by Rene Salud, Mimi Pimentel, and Pia Perey among others. Now that they are going to be in Cebu - let us roll down the red carpet and welcome another fashion school in Cebu that will culture the best and talented students in the Globe.
The Fashion Institute of the Philippines is located at the E Bloc Tower, Ground Floor Asiatown IT Park, Lahug, Cebu City. (FREEMAN)