Danica Magpantay: Not just her mother's daughter

Filipinos love unexpected success stories, particularly those that involve one of their own. We revel in such stories, shed tears over the circumstances, hold celebratory parties. We blog about it, tweet, re-tweet, post it on Facebook, make tribute videos for YouTube. We hash and rehash meetings and lunches, picking out details, looking for connections, using our own kinsman’s victory as a bonding moment for the entire population.

And the story of Danica Magpantay, who became the Ford Supermodel of the World 2010 in New York last week, was definitely big news, a story that didn’t just benefit a young girl but also an entire nation. For the past week, the attention to Danica’s victory has been similar to the nationwide interest accorded to Manny Pacquiao each time he wins a bout, or to Venus Raj placing fourth in the Miss Universe pageant. Newspapers put her on the front page. Talk show hosts chatted about it. Thousands re-tweeted Ford Models proclamation of Philippines winning. Blogs posted and reposted new updates. Fake Danica Magpantay Twitter and Facebook accounts even surfaced.

Femme phenom

“I didn’t expect it to be so phenomenal,” says the recently turned 18-year-old Danica in a Skype conference. “Everybody is just so happy. I’m so happy to have made the Filipinos so proud.” Still a bit dazed from her victory, Danica barely heeds the six-below-zero New York weather, the support and shoutouts of her fellow countrymen blanketing her in a warm, fuzzy celebratory glow. “This is the coolest thing that has happened to me.”

What gives the story more meat is Danica’s bloodline: how she is the daughter of a former Ford Supermodel of the Philippines winner Lala Flores, now a celebrated makeup artist in the Philippines and a fashion industry staple. Posts bannered “Like mother, like daughter” and people now realize that Lala and Danica’s shared genes — most noticeably a dazzling, toothy, give-all smile — has wowed international judges twice over. (Lala didn’t win top honors in the international competition in 1994 although she was given the Best Smile award.)

The mother and her muses: Danica (left) with mom, celebrated makeup artist and former supermodel Lala Flores, and older sister Danielle, in a shoot for Metro magazine.

The story may be clichéd but told with the wide-eyed candidness of an 18-year-old ingénue, it becomes endearing. “I’ve always wanted to model, ever since I was child. My mom was a model. I would see her pictures and she was so beautiful, parang Barbie.” Danica, however didn’t know how to express the thought to her parents. “Then I realized last year, ‘I’m 17. If I don’t do it now, I might lose my chance.’” Mother and father, Pogs Magpantay, were both encouraging. Actually, more Dad than Mom.

And Mom reacts

“I was reluctant from the start,” admits Lala readily, talking from a “been there, done that” perspective. “I know how traumatizing the modeling world can be: the rejection, the depression, the hard work, the pressure. Sometimes, you have to be away from your family.” But she knew that there was no stopping Danica, just like there was nothing that could pull her away from the klieg lights when she was 21 years old. “Danica is intelligent, and she has clarity of mind,” says Lala, her compli-ments to her own daughter playing out as consent.

And so Danica along with older sister Danielle, also a stunner at 19 years old, were enrolled at Joey Espino’s Masters School for Models, where she went through lessons on how to catwalk and project your best angle to the camera. Danica then debuted her runway skills in Folded & Hung’s show in Philippine Fashion Week last October before being asked by Joey, who has held the franchise for the past 10 years, to join the local leg of the Ford Supermodel competition. And Danica, with barely a month of training and only a handful of test shoots to her credit, enlisted. And won (sister Danielle was 8th place).

This was at the end of October. Two months later, she was packing for New York. “I packed so many things. It’s as if my mom enchanted my maleta,” the teenager laughingly recounts. It seems Mom, even if she was telling Danica to “not expect too much,” knew, somehow, that it would be quite some time before her daughter would be flying back home.

For the win

From manga to modeling: Danica is an avowed K-Pop and manga fan. “I am studying fine arts. One of my influences, aside from realism, is animé.”

New York was welcoming enough, despite the subzero weather and the dearth of taxicabs. Reception towards Danica was more than encouraging, particularly from Paul Rowland, the new head of Ford Models, and the man credited for discovering Kate Moss and Carolyn Murphy. “During the fitting before the competition, I was called into his office because he wanted to take pictures of me,” Danica recounts. “He took a photo of me from his own cellphone and he was saying, ‘Beautiful, beautiful.’ I was thinking to myself, ‘Beautiful, ako ba iyon?’ Even if I had not won, I would have been happy because he had noticed me.”

Joey Espino took Rowland’s pre-competition compliments as a possible sign. After 10 years of non-winners and close calls (Charo Ronquillo placed second in 2006 and Chat Almarvez bagged first runner-up honors last year), he was positive but not expectant. Each year Joey would attend the event, and would always see how the listing of winners always included the usual suspects: Brazil, Lithuania, Estonia. This year, however, Joey had his winner. “The Philippines has a winner,” he corrects. “And it’s about time. Now I can be at peace because I can see ‘Supermodel of the World 2010: Philippines, Danica Magpantay.’” (Joey asked to make it clear that Danica’s title is for 2010, not 2011 as some websites and media units have reported.)

The new breed

“Danica has the mind to work and a great personality,” says Joey. “She was able to pin exactly what Ford is looking for.” And she also has the look. According to Joey, with Paul Rowland now at the helm, Ford is looking to establish “a new breed of beauty.” Defined, something unusual, an aesthetic that can’t pinpoint a particular race or genetic background. And Joey, even when he was just looking at Danica’s test shots back in Manila, knew that the girl had more than just a chance. “Half of her face is hard, and the other half is soft. You can’t figure out her face.”

First generation: Lala Flores back in her modeling days

Danica, with her China doll-eyes, mountain crevice bone structure and a smile that can freeze wildlife in their tracks, fit the bill. A dusky beauty with Oriental eyes. Probably one of the biggest compliments handed to the young upstart came from Agnes Ponarska, head scout for Ford Models, who told Joey, “She’s got a cosmetic campaign face.” Any aspiring model worth her glossy set cards knows that you haven’t really made it big until you’ve bagged a cam-paign for a company that adver-tises in the first 20 pages of Vogue — and beauty and cosmetic brands usually have a reserve on these spaces. “She can be the next Liu Wen,” says Joey, referring to the Chinese supermodel who became the first Asian to model for Estee Lauder. “She really is Lala Flores’ daughter,” he laughingly adds.

Soon after the proclamation, Joey and Danica were called into a meeting where Ford outlined how much winning the title would change the young girl’s life: a $250,000 modeling contract for Ford, catwalk appearances in New York Fashion Week, commercial castings, and shoots for some of the world’s best fashion bibles. “I asked her, ‘This is it. Are you really ready for it?’ And she replied, ‘Yes, this is what I really want.’”

Fast times

It doesn’t occur to her that things may be happening too fast. “This is God’s timing for me. Why would I even complain?” She’s accepted that she has to live apart from her family, just as she’s wholly accepted that she has to work. “There’s no time for drama. Or nothing will happen.”

“This is her destiny. I want to believe she’s meant for this,” says Lala, who is also experiencing her own whirlwind flurry, with the barrage of congratulatory messages on her Facebook wall and requests for interviews. But all Lala can really focus on is playing two roles: that of a critical mentor and a supportive mother. She cautions her daughter to stay fit and healthy, “to always moisturize, use lotion and drink lots of water.” But in the same breath, she also tells her second-born, “You are at the peak of your life. Enjoy your moment.” And the mother is, pragmatically, also telling Danica not to sweat having to take a temporary leave from school. “I’ve told her, ‘You have a bigger school out there. Go for it.’”

And nearly 10,000 miles away, her daughter, the second-generation supermodel, listens.