Who’s that Preview girl?

MANILA, Philippines - Preview’s September issue began with a quest (figuratively speaking) to find the perfect outfit to kick off autumn/winter 2013. The fashion issue, of course, should be about the season’s lineup of clothes more than anything else. #imapreviewgirl came to be as the team was debating on the cover looks. We wanted the cover to speak directly to our readers, to ask them to ID their personal style, and we quickly realized that the best way to do this was to shoot multiple covers, each one spotlighting a different kind of Preview girl, styled by our brilliant senior editors Liz Uy (Glamazon), Daryl Chang (Avant-Garde), and Vince Uy (Romantic). Insider info: We originally planned for only three covers, but we loved Vince’s backup shoot so much (Androgynous), it ended up as the cover of our e-mag!

Now, who do we put on the cover of the September issue? There aren’t many celebrities whom our readers can identify as a Preview girl through and through. Georgina Wilson is one of them for she grew up on our pages. And if there’s anyone who lives and breathes fashion, if there’s anyone who relishes the fashion scene, it is George. So we rented a cavernous studio (Filmex), called in Mark Nicdao, prayed that the brilliant Raymond Santiago would arrive in spite of a typhoon in Cagayan de Oro to do hair, and turned to the legendary Fanny Serrano for makeup (for years we’ve been hearing that he’s the best, so we finally listened and are extremely delighted to have rediscovered TF for the #selfie generation). We began at 1 p.m.; ended atmidnight. It’s all in a day’s work. What can I say? It’s typical #imapreviewgirl behavior.

We wanted September to be more about our readers, so we collaborated with S.C. Vizcarra, a company of skilled artisans that has been making handcrafted Pinoy goods since 1925. They started as a taller bordados de mano and now they weave and manufacture fashion and home accessories, including the leather luggage tag that comes free with your copy of the print edition in select outlets.

We have another gift, this time for our e-mag readers: You can download Preview’s September issue for free on Zinio and Apple Newsstand from Sept. 7 to 15.

September is also happening on our social media channels (www.facebook.com/preview.ph, @previewthestylebible on Instagram, Tumbler, YouTube and Pinterest, and @previewmag and @stylebibleph on Twitter). Watch for #imapreviewgirl. We have a mini-festival of fashion films for you till the end of the month.

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Pauline Suaco Juan is the editor in chief of Preview.