The ultimo in men's fashion
MANILA, Philippines -Some might know him as the chairman of CATS Motors, Inc. Others may recognize him as the co-founder of Guitar Friends (along with former PLDT CEO Tonyboy Cojuangco) and host of the annual Philippine Guitar Festival. But here’s another role for Gregorio T. Yu: fashion model.
It turns out getting Yu — a youthful 51 — to come out from behind his CATS desk and don the latest shirts and suits by Ultimo — Benito Lim’s latest line of plus-size corporate apparel, available exclusively at SM Department Stores — was not so difficult after all. The two are golfing buddies.
“It was very difficult for me to buy clothes here in the Philippines. It’s always been a problem to find clothes that are my size,” says Yu, who used to buy all his clothes at Big & Tall stores in the US. “Until Ultimo came along, my options were to do my shopping (in the States) once every two years, or go tailor-made. But the problem is the fabrics and materials are kind of boring. You’re confined to plain, stripes, white, blue, pink maybe, and that’s it.”
His friend Benito Lim, head of Concept Clothing Corp., which carries Arrow, Elianto, Espada, Sahara, Wall Street and other brands, kept asking Yu to “endorse” his clothes. “I said you never have anything that fits me. So when this brand, Ultimo, came out, it was heaven-sent.”
Yu, who still practices classical guitar regularly (when he’s not golfing) and occasionally performs with Guitar Friends, finds that Ultimo’s mix of colors and quality fabrics is a perfect fit. “People think it’s an expensive Italian brand,” but it’s locally made.
Admitting the “scariest thing” he’s ever done was performing on guitar before an audience at the CCP, Yu took up his long-dormant acoustic when his wife found it while cleaning the house back in 2001. Since then, it’s become his main passion again.
Yu is quick to point out he’s not the image model for Ultimo — just someone who likes the way the clothes fit, whether in a boardroom or on the floor of CATS, where he gamely showcased both the latest Mercedes-Benzes and the latest Ultimo line.
Even with the bankruptcy of Daimler-Benz-owned Chrysler in the US last year, Yu says that CATs Motors — which has been a visible sign of the Filipino love affair with the Mercedes Benz since the ‘80s — has had no significant drop in sales. “It affected our sales briefly because they had to close their factories three or four months while Chrysler was in bankruptcy court, so we weren’t able to get the regular supply of cars during that time to sell. The funny thing is, we would have sold all of them if we had gotten the supply.”
With his Xavier background (he’s a committed fundraiser for his alma mater), board membership with Ballet Philippines and the Manila Symphony Orchestra, and his love of guitar playing (“I’m involved with classical guitar in a big way”), Yu knows that some things — like Mercedes-Benz, music and classic men’s fashion — never go out of style.
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Ultimo is exclusively available at SM Department Stores, SM City North EDSA, SM Megamall and SM Makati.
