Pinoy Pride

Lately, Bea Valdes and Tina Ocampo have been charming fashion editors and style mavens all over the world by showcasing Filipino craftsmanship at its best with their evening bags and accessories. They have both recently wowed the audience at the Vendome luxury trade show in Paris.

Bea has come a long way since being featured in Vogue in June 2005, where the magazine called her bags, "the must-have evening bag for the year." It was said that when she went to the US to present her creations, the fashion editors over at Vogue loved her work so much that her designs were immediately photographed and she was soon after scheduled for a photo shoot and interview to go with her handiwork.

Click here to view her first Vogue appearance, for her second Vogue feature here. And click here to view her tv interview.

I seriously love her work and would love to own at least one of her creations - if only I can afford it. :) Uppermost left pic shows the Ophelia necklace, a variation of the Ophelie necklace shown in the InStyle spread, just in case you want to understand why it costs US$2,150.00, or simply to scrutinize the consummate artisanship of her pieces.

Even designer of the moment, Tory Burch, is in awe of Tina Maristela Ocampo. Instyle's April issue featured an interview with Burch for the Welcome To My Life section, and Tina's minaudieres made a small appearance in the interview, too.

Pic 2 shows Tina's Pacquiao clutch named after modern day hero and boxing champ, Manny Pacquiao. Pic 3 shows the Mother of Pearl clutch made famous by Drew Barrymore at the 2007 Golden Globes.

Abante Pinoy!