Designed for success • Joanna Preysler-Francisco

MANILA, Philippines - With her wide, soulful eyes of exquisite green, she sees the world for all its possibilities. And with her hands, she aims to capture them in stunning, crafted pieces that brim with as much life as they do beauty. For Filipino bag and boutique retailer Joanna Preysler-Francisco, life’s little luxuries can be made accessible to all.

Joanna first made waves when she and her husband Raul Francisco opened their global fashion boutique, Carbon, 12 years ago in Makati. Cut for the edgy, urban stylistas, Carbon became an instant hit. The next two concept stores, Tint, which features high-end resort/tropical wear, and the Joanna Preysler Boutique, her line of bags made from exotic skins like crocodile, python and ostrich, were met with the same clamor and success.  

But Joanna is not shy to share that her success is greatly due to her loving and creative husband. “Many people are very shocked that Raul and I work together. But I look at it as another dimension to our relationship that brings us closer together,” says the honey-blonde mother of three. While Joanna acts as the marketing director behind the concept stores, her husband holds the title of creative director and managing director.

Though the shelves of their stores proudly display many of their original, collaborative designs, Joanna is quick to place warning, “Please don’t call us designers. We don’t fancy ourselves as designers. We’re retailers,” she says humbly.

Though not a formal student of fashion and design, Joanna, however, proudly embraces that she is, indeed, a “student of life,” a free spirit, attuned to all the gifts of inspiration. “I’m not ashamed to ask people questions. I’m not afraid to keep learning and honing my own aesthetic.  When I visit a city, I’m not a tourist. I immerse myself in the life of the city. That reflects my aesthetic,” she explains.

With her ear on the pulse of the world, and her eyes roaming the ever-changing landscape of fashion, her designs speak of a universal truth — “fashion comes from a place of authenticity.”

“When I design for women, I think of myself in different phases of my life — in my twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and so on — so that I can speak to different women. My designs always come from a place of authenticity. It’s unpretentious. I don’t try to be who I’m not.” In fact, from the bags to the clothes, nothing hangs in their stores that she would not personally use.

In fashion as well as in life, Joanna remembers never to take anything too seriously. “There’s no Botox for the  soul, so be happy. Life is too short.”

Photography by SHAIRA LUNA • Creative direction by LUIS ESPIRITU JR. • Styling by RUDOLPH LEONOR • Makeup by RIA AQUINO • Hairstyling by AVRIL SEGUIN • Both dresses by TINT PRIVATE LABEL • Jewelry by MILADAY JEWELS  • Shot on location at the RAFFLES POOL AREA