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Saturday, August 26, 2006
Very Verve
By Bombette G. Marin
IN 1996, Melinda Pastelero Sto. Tomas found herself at a creative crossroad.
Bebet, as she is popularly known, was on the verge of striking out on her own after years as a manufacturer and designer starting with skirts and blouses for Anson’s Department Store in 1979 and Rustan’s Department Store in 1980 to 1987.
Drawn to the endless possibilities of manufacturing RTWs for popular department stores in Manila, she decided to come up with her own brand, Verve with a space in Rustan’s Shangri-la in 1996, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Ten years since she made that fateful choice, Bebet has remained as fresh, fashionable and flexible as her trademark line of women’s clothing. The secret to Bebet’s longevity in a field that is more fickle than hemline lengths is her ability to look at fashion as equal parts business and pleasure. While she still enjoys the process of sketching her ideas on paper, she also believes that “fashion is experimenting. It is choosing your clothes wisely.”
Elements to her success then include hard work, timing, luck and talent. She is willing to do what it takes. “Since I’m always starting things most women are afraid to try, the newest project is always the most frightening,” says Bebet.
Verve will once again take Iloilo as a useful starting point as it reopens today, 3 p.m. at the Upper Ground Floor of SM City Mall with a tea party and a fashion show.
Majority of the collections for the upcoming show will hail the return to classic elegance and classy femininity. The shapely silhouette will be a prominent message, bringing out contour-loving pieces like skirts, pants and tailored ensembles that are the rave with girls from all walks of life. It will showcase a pleasant composite wardrobe of clothes that will fully express the wearer’s democratic spirit. Verve's fashion philosophy has always tried to transmit a contemporary spirit to its garments, with euphoric multicolored prints and airy fabrics (80% of which she buys in Japan and the remaining 20 percent from Korea and other Asian countries) freely combined in a rhythmic movement, alternating different lengths and structures.
For the ladies, the thing to occupy your time this weekend in Iloilo is to obsess over clothes that reflect a severe attention on femininity and grace. Verve fashion show will capture the delicate, winning beauty of the Ilongga as she gives form and character to the show’s fashion pieces. Carefree and peaceful, veiled by an original spontaneity, Verve is sure to present a new dress code: a style leaning towards casual chic.
With the passion for everything she takes on, Bebet is enthusiasm personified---energetic…dynamic, very Verve.
(August 26, 2006 issue)
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