Newsmakers

Scents of the Big Pony

March 29, 2011 | 12:00am

Young men of today have discovered more and more the iconic appeal of Ralph Lauren logo: the Polo Player. With the Big Pony shirt collection, the logo has become colorful, bold and, yes, oversized.

Aside from the shirt, there is now the Big Pony fragrance collection. It has four fragrances that represent key passions of young men: sport, seduction, adventure and style. Having said this, I remember when I was growing up the only fragrance for men by Ralph Lauren was the one that came in a dark green bottle with that Polo Player logo in gold.

Recently, guests gathered at the Art of Scent boutique, the country’s first luxe fragrance store at Resorts World Manila, to witness the unveiling of the Ralph Lauren Big Pony fragrance collection. Channel V VJ Megan Young presented the brand ambassadors who were dressed in their RL Big Pony shirts, paired with the scent that best matched their personality and lifestyle.

RL Big Pony 1, the fragrance that embodies the game of sport and addresses the challenge of performance, was represented by health buff Rovilson Fernandez. RL Big Pony 2, the scent that brings men into the game of seduction, was represented by Brazilian-Japanese model-actor Daniel Matsunaga. RL Big Pony 3, fit for the game of adventure, was embodied by winner of this season’s Amazing Race Asia Rich Herrera. RL Big Pony 4, representing youthful style, was personified by the owner of modern yet socially conscious clothing boutique Greater Good Mike Concepcion.

Wooden frames with Ralph Lauren lifestyle images, trophies and prize ribbons adorned the cocktail tables while blue, red, green and orange cocktail drinks were served with canapés from Café Republiq. Ralph Lauren hosted an after-party at Republiq with a performance by Grammy-nominated artists LMFAO.

Erik Cua and STAR columnist Tim Yap.

Swarovski pays homage to the Polar Bear

In its continuing effort to give support to endangered animal species, Swarovski pays homage to the Polar Bear this year. The Swarovski Crystal Society (SCS) looks to the Arctic and “Siku,” the magnificent Annual Edition 2011 Polar Bear. Siku means “ice” in Inuit. Founded by Swarovski in 1987, the SCS is now the world’s largest association of collectors. It boasts close to 325,000 members from 130 countries.

In addition to Siku are two sets of lovable cubs one set crafted in the same color as Siku, and the other in a more intense white. Designed by Anton Hirzinger, the Annual Edition 2011 and the pair of cubs (available separately) are formed from faceted moonlight crystal with eyes and nose in jet crystal. The cubs are also available in white opal. The Annual Edition 2011 comes with a title plaque in faceted crystal.

As a yearly commemoration, Rustan’s presented the Annual Edition 2011 through an intimate event at Rustan’s Makati. Current members of the Swarovski Crystal Society were present including non-members who were encouraged to sign-up. Leading the unveiling was Austrian Ambassador Wilhelm Donko and his wife Yan together with Swarovski’s multi-brand sales manager for consumer goods and business Joy Young and Catherine Huang of Rustan’s.

The Swarovski Annual Edition featuring ‘Siku’ the polar bear.

The 2011 Annual Edition emphasizes Swarovski’s long-standing link with water. The Swarovski Water School program is dedicated to teaching children of some of the world’s poorest nations about the sustainable management of water. Purchasing SCS Annual Editions makes a tremendous contribution to the implementation of this project.

Cheers for Nokia’s Ovi store

Nokia recently threw a party for surpassing the one millionth monthly download mark in the Philippines for its Ovi Store a repository of free games, applications and themes, exclusive to Nokia device owners. The party was held at Society Lounge in Makati.

The good news was shared by executives of Nokia Philippines led by Nokia Philippines senior services marketing manager Rhomel Marcojos, device portfolio manager Mike Smith, marketing managers Jonica Peña and Milette Rosal and corporate communications manager Nikka Abes.

(From left) Theresa and Samantha Go, Theresa Gotamco, Annie and Ellie Go.

Marcojos shared the Ovi Store’s latest achievement reaching an impressive growth of 75 percent from September 2010 to December 31, 2010. He said, “The success of the Ovi Store in the Philippines can be attributed to the store’s updated and friendlier feel. The store also provides more choices for applications, themes and games for download-loving Pinoys. Games like the highly popular World Tong-its Tour is an example that has gained a lot of traction, not only in the Philippines but in other countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam as well.”

Abes added, “Nokia has always been in sync with what the market wants and we make sure to be always a step ahead. Through the Ovi applications, Nokia has personalized even more the options for mobile users here in the Philippines and around the globe.”

Apart from its success in the country, Ovi Store is also a hit worldwide, generating around four million downloads per day.

Nokia announced the availability of more exciting applications and games and for free all for the Pinoys’ downloading pleasure. The company gave guests a chance to download away with all the applications their Nokia phones could handle with the free WiFi at the venue.