chez lloren

after watching ito curata’s show at shang makati, your blogger met up with jojie lloren and some more friends from the art and fashion circles at his atelier. i took candid photos of them while we talked about everything from ito’s collection to the man made wonders of dubai. this was fun evening, felt like i was back in college hanging out with my schoolmates. something about this shop’s architecture and surrounding artworks reminded me of U.P. Diliman.

jojie @ chez lloren

dorla villalon, one of my muses was with me. if you remember, i was with her at ito’s show (refer to the last pic on my previous post). dorla is a treasured friend who inspired this blogger to create a jacket based on the alvar aalto chair below. we were admiring the lines of his furnitures which were on exhibit at the ayala museum sometime ago. i should post some pics of that eggshell colored, raw-silk jacket; if she allows me to photograph it, that is.

alvar aalto chair

darling dorla is a meticulous designer herself with impeccable taste for the elegantly subtle. she’s been all over the globe to study photography, art and many other creative pursuits. it was through her export company Tribal Genius that I first found creative expression in creating candleholders and napkin rings in the 90’s. the designs that she created herself are beautiful and timeless. i have a few pieces of her fish candleholders which i keep for posterity.

dorla villalon, inspiring

james reyes who was past president of the young designers’ group (YDG) was also there. he is funny, witty and very good at his craft. i love the surreal black and white clothes he did for metro magazine some seasons ago. he had recently lost a pet dog, had him put to sleep. i could totally relate to such loss since my shih-tzu died late last year after i returned from a trip. poor doggy got sick and thought i wouldn’t come back. she just gave up but waited long enough for me to see her off. i told her that she was a good pet and that it was okay to go, "you'll be back to help humans in your next life." didi gave one deep, sigh and spent her last outbreath looking at me.

james reyes

paolo who just returned from dubai is so much prettier now than he's ever been before departing. refined, wealthy and well-educated, he must have left a trail of broken hearts in that distant desert. surprisingly he revealed that he only had one boyfriend. He showed photos and admittedly, with a boyfriend like that, one is really all you need.

pretty paolo

albert avellana, art-dealing culturato, was there too. He showed me the latest exhibit @ his f.b. harrison, pasay city gallery: eight atists doing anything that’s got to do with eight showed thought-provoking, retina-pleasing works. i wanted to stay longer but i ate too much of the fresh steamed vegetables that jojie served (sans the kare kare sauce and ox tail of course). had to head home immedeately.

albert avellana