It's not Valentino! It's Tolentino!

The first time I heard of Oliver Tolentino was from Carla Sibal, who wore a stylish, well-executed gown at the Tatler Ball last year. It was a piña creation dyed in different hues of navy blue and orange. It was so beautiful I could not help but compliment her for it. She humbly said that the credit goes to couturier Oliver Tolentino who executed the gown for her. The second time I heard his name mentioned was during the StarBall of Pinky Puno, wife of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno and who organized StarBall. She wore a chiffon gown, in different shades of purple, cut in strips horizontally and ended in a long train that had floral appliques of the same material. I overheard one of the foreign dancers asking her, “Is your gown a Valentino?” And she wittily replied, “No. It’s a Tolentino. 

After a few months, I finally met Oliver Tolentino when another lady friend invited me to his workshop. 

Tolentino is a young couturier/designer who is making waves both in Manila and in the US. During that meeting he disclosed to us that he was rushing a collection for his trunk show in New York. His collection veered on simple elegance and he explained that his foreign clients prefer classic lines, gowns that can withstand the test of time.  For the Philippine market, he does gowns with a lot of embellishments because that’s what most of his Filipino clients like. For the international market, his designs have to be trendy but classic at the same time. He has managed to please both sets of clients so far. 

Tolentino must be doing something right. He’s the designer that stars go to for their gowns especially when they have a concert. He recently dressed the divas — Kuh Ledesma, Regine Velasquez, Zsa Zsa Padilla and Pops Fernandez — for their concert in North America.  Asia’s songbird Lani Misalucha, who is now performing at the Las Vegas Hilton, wears only Tolentino gowns in her concerts.  Actress Giselle Toengi wore an Oliver Tolentino gown on the red carpet at the 2009 SAG Awards in Hollywood. Mega magazine dubbed Oliver as the Philippines’ Valentino. He is also attracting attention among the fashionable set in the US. He recently designed a dress for the wife of rocker Joe Walsh of the legendary Eagles who was photographed wearing it on the red carpet during a Grammy event in Hollywood. 

The ultimate feather to his cap is the opening of the Oliver Tolentino boutique in West Hollywood. One can’t beat the address:  9003 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood.  His soft opening on July 8 attracted LA’s fashionable set but according to his PR, the big opening is on July 26, where a good number of LA’s A-list confirmed attendance. 

He also recently finished a trunk show at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City and at the Marriott Marquis. In his e-mail, he wrote that he was like a chicken without a head preparing for his trunk show in New York and at the same time for the opening of his boutique on Melrose Avenue. 

The Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County presented the Entrepreneur of the Year in the Fashion Industry to Tolentino in October 2008. The Celebrity Chronicle awarded him its Outstanding Professional in the Field of Design at its Achievement Awards Night in Glendale, Ca. in July 2008.

Tolentino’s career as a designer is on the up and up. So far, he is the first Filipino to open a boutique in such a prestigious address. 

With his international exposure, we will not be surprised if he lands on the pages of the big magazines like Vogue, InStyle and the like. Tolentino is indeed making Filipinos proud!