Chesca Ayala: School Girl Gone Wrong

"We’re the kids you’d look at in the malls and bars because we’re different. But face it, you want to be just like us!" plugs a self-professed schoolgirl gone sour. But don’t get her wrong, beneath all the fishnet stockings, the in-your-face tee logos, and the deadly pairs of boots is an 18-year-old girl and her struggle to get her identity loud and out. Sounds like a high-rating teen angst drama? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Just got back from the Swiss Alps where she spent four months of school, winter, a wild longing for rice and Tagalog-speaking fellows, Chesca Ayala—niece of music geniuses Joey Ayala and Cynthia Alexander—is around to break all the traditions, never mind if it’s the Catholic-school institution. And no, she doesn’t go around sending anonymous letters to magazines dissing her high-school alma mater, she does it the ingenious way of stamping it on shirts and making money out of them. That was how her and five of her equally vanguard friends started their T-shirt company called "Dirty Li’l Schoolgirl", and the so-called Maria Clara image suddenly became in need of rehab.

Then again, it’s the stereotype she’s fighting with so don’t throw in another one by challenging her to a drug test. She’ll turn up negative anyway, and so with the alcoholic variety. And call her a tramp, and she’ll replace it with a more decent sounding "sensual" flat to your face. She’s a maverick, a fashion independent. And she has the tiara to prove it.

Name three things that are in mode?

Houndstooth prints, androgyny, and D.I.Y. punk.

Who is a stylish person?

Gwen Stefani, Courtney Love, and Shirley Manson combined.

Who is a fashion victim?

Ara Mina and the rest of the Tanduay girls.

Were you ever fashion forsaken (read: fashion victim)?

Absolutely! That’s what being a teenager is all about!

Where do we catch you when you’re in one of your closet feeding spells?

Cutting up old clothes in my room or running through every mall and tiangge in Metro Manila.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of fashion?

Shown my bare ass on a t-shirt as my own personal "f**k you" to the high school I graduated from. It’s also the pilot design for my T-shirt business.

Who or what influences your style?

My mood swings and beautiful women on TV.

What item of clothing won’t you be caught dead wearing?

A $60 shirt with a dumb designer’s name on it. Either that or pedal pushers

What items do you think will be the fill of future trends?

Anything goes, baby! Dress for yourself!