Putting Collezione Back on the Map

Had the chance to be a consultant once for Collezione C2 and one of the things I said was we needed to get the brand back on everyone's fashion radar --- a distinctively young, fresh and nationalistic idea or take on the designs and collections --- this was the time that the youth was decidedly very pro-Pinoy.

And fashion designer and now Collezione C2 creative director Rhett Eala stepped-in and did his magic of coming up with the Philippine Map designs.

Oh this did wonders for the brand but then again after a few months and after getting so much acclaim for the designs, Collezione C2 suffered the most flattering insult --- it got copied by everyone! How hard was it to put the Philippine map on a shirt right?

If I were still the consultant, I would be asking and finding a solution to this question: SO after the Philippine map, what's next?

Anyway, three things the copycats didn't do right were the "burda" of the map --- it was downright sloppy unlike the one made by Collezione C2; and another thing was the quality of the polo shirt itself. The quality of Collezione-made polo shirts is, really for me unequaled since the 80s (kudos to Mr. Joey Qua and family).

The third and last is the most important --- the cheaper copycat versions didn't have OUR size!

As I wrote before, if your waistline is somewhere in the vicinity of 40 to 42 inches, get the 2XL from Collezione C2.

By the way, they still have sizes up to 4XL. GREAT!

Hold That Tiger!

One of the funniest commercials involving women chasing men (even before the AXE commercials gained notoriety) was aired sometime in the 80's here in the Philippines for a clothing brand with the basic lyrics of "Hold that tiger" in its catchy jingle. The clothing brand was and is LE TIGRE.

(Wikipedia) Le Tigre is an American brand of apparel designed to rival Lacoste in styling. First offered in 1977, Le Tigre polos sported a leaping tiger in lieu of Lacoste's signature crocodile. The brand made a comeback in 2003, after being out of production through the 1990s. Le Tigre had become popular during the later 1980s.

I'm not sure if they

ever did disappear in the Philippines since up to now an outlet store that sells Le Tigre is still up and running along Shaw Boulevard Mandaluyong in the building beside Puregold Liberty Center.

TIP: If buying a Le Tigre polo shirt and you have a waistline of roughly 40-42, buy the XL. It's at Php500.00 (for all that cloth!).

Aside from Lacoste and Le Tigre, the Philippines had its own version of aclassic, vintage brand called Collezione (the logo is the famous key; now it has the key and the Philippine map). More on Collezione later.

I know some of you weren't even born when this brand hit the shelves but hey, Vintage really is back in style. If you don't believe me, what are the supposed modern brands still in use and being bought by Pinoys nowadays --- There's Lacoste, FOSSIL, Collezione, Sebago, Keds (the first sneaker), Sperry Top-sider (the world's original boat shoe), LEVIS, etc.