Celebrating Celestina

Few women have influenced Philippine fashion as significantly as Celestina Maristela-Ocampo. From the onset of her fashion career, establishing herself as one of the country’s top fashion models up to the present time, Maristela-Ocampo has consistently reinvented herself in different aspects of fashion.

 With her exposure to fashion as a model, it was only natural for her to open various boutiques to cater to men and women in different fields of life. For the classic and corporate there is The Black Shop; for the trendy, there’s MIX; and for formal wear, the M Boutique.  She also has an inexpensive line of chic eyewear, I2I (pronounced eye to eye), sold from kiosks in malls all over Metro Manila. Her being chosen as a fashion icon by Manila’s fashion designers did not happen by chance. Her understated elegance and impeccable taste set her apart from her peers. The other side of the equation is also her natural flair to project her clothes with a lot of pizzazz. Some women have it and some women don’t. Maristela Ocampo falls under the first group and will never go unnoticed anywhere she goes.

A mutual friend of ours loves to tell this anecdote. During one shopping sojourn in New York, she and Tina went to Barneys with a group of friends. Coming out of the store, a roving photographer for the New York Times spotted them and took a snapshot of them. Two days later, a solo picture of her came out in the fashion pages of the New York Times. That day she was wearing a Comme Des Garcons jacket. The other ladies were also fashionably dressed but it was Celestina M. Ocampo who was singled out and featured prominently in the Times.  “Unfair!” her friends jokingly screamed when they saw the feature.

A lucky star must be shining brightly on Maristela-Ocampo as she has been making waves lately on the fashion scene abroad. Her new minaudieres (small evening bags) and eyewear are in big demand and are constantly featured in all the fashion magazines and worn by a lot of celebrities.

 What made her think of this product?

 “I spent a lot of time pondering on a product that I could sell to the department stores abroad. My husband Ricco and I wanted to expand our business and be dollar earners as Manila is such a small niche. I am not a Balenciaga, so how can I entice them with clothes? Neither do I have a leather factory in Milan, so how can I produce shoes and leather bags? I also wanted to come up with products that have no size.”

She did a lot of research, visiting top department stores, particularly Barneys on Madison Ave. because she knew that Barneys is a store known for discovering new talent. Barneys markets new products well and most merchandisers know that anyone who has passed the stringent standards of Barneys must be unique and beautiful.

After a lot of research, she came to the conclusion that she would market small evening bags (minaudieres) that were not glitzy and which used indigenous Filipino materials. She went around for two years researching her collection and developing collaborative relationships with the local artisans. The result is a stunning array of meticulously crafted minaudieres, featuring metals from Baguio, ebony from Pampanga, shagreen (sting ray) and mother-of-pearl from Zamboanga, and intricate inlay work from Bulacan. Filipino craftsmanship at its finest!

“I don’t claim to have discovered these materials and the technique of laying them out. But I put them on another level and added another dimension to them. Coasters? Placemats? Why not a bag?” she says with emphasis.

Maristela-Ocampo gives credit to Filipino bag designer Rafe Totengco who, in 2006, introduced her to the accessories editor of Vogue, Virginia Smith. Smith, upon seeing her line of minaudieres, was impressed by their beauty and craftsmanship and immediately called the head merchandiser of Barneys.

The rest is history, and today, the Celestina line is well ensconced at Barneys and this season will be at Bergdorf Goodman, Nieman Marcus, and other outlets around the USA. The Celestina line is also selling well in Moscow, Japan, London, Hong Kong and Ukraine.

From minaudieres, she expanded into eyewear lined with shagreen, as well as jewelry in gold, brass or silver. This fall, she is introducing capelets using indigenous woven fabrics lined with piña and she also has a line of scarves made from the same indigenous fabric. Last summer, she launched a line of fashionable fans that had leather tassels on the silver ring. They sold out during the hot summer months and buyers clamored for more!

For coding purposes, she has named her products after Filipino icons like Nora Aunor, Pacquiao, Nena Saguil, etc.

Celebrities like Halle Berry, Drew Barrymore, cosmetic heiress Aerin Lauder, Jordan’s Queen Noor, socialite-dermatologist Lisa Aerin, and civic worker muti-millionaire Jemima Goldsmith of London are among those spotted in the fashion magazines using her minaudieres and her accessories. Her press agent in New York is a Filipino who is also the press agent of fashion designer Viviane Tam. Her products are now constantly featured  and she needs a press agent to cater to the demands of magazine editors when she is in Manila working on her new collection.

Maristela-Ocampo’s vision is focused on making Celestina into a brand name. With her innovative designs, her good taste and strong work ethic, this dream is not far from becoming a reality.