Of muses and men

MANILA, Philippines - How did Rogue bring together the country’s hottest stars in one historic photo? For our September Issue, we wanted to pay tribute to all the brilliant men and women behind the camera, the creative mavericks  the stylists and the photographers, the art directors and the designers  who have been responsible for creating the magazine’s most iconic images and award-winning editorials.

At the top of the list is celebrity stylist Pam Quiñones, one of Rogue’s most frequent collaborators along with photographer Mark Nicdao.

She’s been on billboards and magazine covers, TV shows and movies  and you’ve probably never even heard of her. But in a decade-long career that’s seen her dress some of the most bold-faced names in the Philippines, Pam has had an influential hand in creating “the look of the moment”  whether you know it or not.

For this month’s cover, a nearly impossible feat and logistical nightmare, five of Pam’s top muses  Anne Curtis, Charlene Gonzalez, Angel Locsin, Marian Rivera, and Judy Ann Santos  have come together despite their busy schedules and perceived differences to pay tribute to their secret weapon: the woman who makes them look good.

The legendary neal oshima

Other top stories in the September issue include “Shooting Shadows,” the first full-length profile on the legendary but low-profile photographer Neal Oshima, another one of Rogue’s most valued contributors.

An American of Japanese extraction who expatriated to the Philippines during martial law, his was the most sought-out camera in advertising and fashion during the ’80s and ’90s. From working in Marlon Brando’s Tahiti island and meeting Billie Holiday, to being baby-sitted by Maurice Sendak in Greenwich Village, Rogue traces the arc of Neal’s photographic life, featuring interviews with his subjects and collaborators  including Tina Maristela Ocampo, Karla Delgado, Apa Ongpin, and the bohemian set of Syquia Apartments.

In our designer’s portfolio, “Tomorrow, the World,” Rogue turns the spotlight on the most innovative Filipino creatives and artisans who are redefining the label “Made in the Philippines”: Melissa Dizon Ramsay of Eairth; the milliner Mich Dulce; Paul Jatayna and AJ Omandac of OS; jewelry designer Joyce Makitalo; and Pat Mosby and Rik Rasos of Proudrace. These industry mavericks  ambassadors in their own right  have single-handedly built homegrown brands that are currently making waves in the global market and among international celebrities.

Last days of disco

In “She Owned the Night,” Cristina Valdes, one of the most enigmatic social icons of the 1970s, takes us back to the last days of disco. The jet-setting socialite  with her iconic ivory cane and diamond-studded eye patch  was the imperious queen of the night life, be it in Ernest Santiago’s Coco Banana or Steve Rubell’s Studio 54.

Using never-before-seen photographs by Patrick Rothschild de Koenigswarter and Butch Baluyut, Rogue correspondent Bambina Olivares Wise met her in Manhattan as they revisited the 1985 fire that razed her Forbes Park home, her high-flying affair with Wolfgang Bierlein, and the gruesome 1977 car accident with Gabby Lopez that destroyed her face.

For our design special “The Tree House,” Rogue traveled to the five-star safari camp Jao in the water worlds of Botswana. Like a film set on the flood plains of the Okavango Delta, this exclusive nine-cottage resort has been the secret African refuge for barons and plutocrats, maharajas and movie stars  including Oprah Winfrey, the Prince of Luxembourg, Paul Newman, and the Courtin-Clarins family  since it was built by Italian eco-architect Silvio Rech in the 1990s.

Elsewhere in the issue is an insider’s guide to this month’s Paris Design Week; British fashion photographer David Bailey; a road test of the Lamborghini Gallardo Squadra Corse; the JD Salinger murders; architect Zaha Hadid; the lost scrapbooks of Cecil Beaton; photographer David LaChapelle; a first look at Isabella Blow’s Somerset House exhibit in London; and Amano’i, the newest Aman resort in Vinh Hy Bay, Vietnam.

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Paolo R. Reyes is the editor in chef of Rogue.