About The Designer, Puey Quinones
Puey Quinones is one of the most prolific young designers working in the Philippines today. Puey was born on February 28, 1980 in Samar, an island in the Southeast of the archipelago. From humble beginnings, the young Puey found his calling when he met and apprenticed under designer Denis Lustico, who spotted potential in his early drawings.
Manila beckoned in 1998, and Puey grabbed the opportunity to work for Bergamo, a men's tailoring outlet, for two years. He learned the basics of structure and form, and then moved on to assist renowned knit queen Lulu Tan Gan. Under Ms. Gan, Puey learned more technical aspects of clothing design.
After taking his leave of Ms. Gan, Puey moved on to launch his own collection, starting off with a show entitled Swell, partnering with jewellery designer Jul Dizon, where he demonstrated the infinite possibilities of his pieces in front of a packed audience. The thirty pieces for Swell were designed to be worn in multiple ways. Puey would take a model and turn her jacket into a skirt, or vice versa, all under time pressure and under the critical gaze of fashion journalists. Unlike the brief bow a designer usually takes at the end of a show, Puey allowed the producers of his debut show to put his work under a microscope. "It was scary, but I think I do work best under a lot of pressure," he quips.
Puey's designs for evening are ethereal, dramatic and sexy, but have the modernist twist, transforming into multi-functional and reversible wraps, and removable skirts. For day and corporate ready-to-wear, he makes practical, urban, contemporary pieces. Street-smart chic easily turns into the goddess at night.
Puey's work ethic has gotten him the nod from older designers with his collections for Swell, 2005, Fresh Look 2006, and Globe Platinum's Fashion, Art, Music and Entertainment (FAME) 2006. His clients include television talk show host Boy Abunda, commercial model KC Concepcion, and style icons like TingTing Cojuangco, Tim Yap, Irene Marcos-Araneta and Imee Marcos.
In 2005 Puey Quinones received the L'oreal Top Ten Manila Achievers citation, and in the same year, Mild Seven named him one of Manila's Most Sought-After Designers. Mega magazine featured Puey among four of the young "princes" of design in its April 2005 issue. In a few years, this finalist from the FDCP Young Designers Competition Paris 2000-2001 has become one of the country's hottest, and he's just turning 27.
When asked about his vision of the future, Puey reveals his playful and humble nature, "I would like to see myself in the house of Yohji Yamamoto, one day, even if it's just as an assistant making the coffee."
Stylist Michael Salientes has noted Puey's work as "Tailored, finished pieces. Puey does not short cut. He's a serious designer." He also infuses his work with indigenous Philippine materials such as Abel Iloko, a hand-woven fabric from Ilocos, and rich silks, shredded chiffon, and cotton voile, which modernizes traditional Filipina.
"The kind of woman I see wearing my collection is one who dreams big. She is tasteful and quiet in general, but likes to make a grand entrance at a party. The pieces call attention to themselves but in a sophisticated, elegant manner. When I think of London, I think of the tube stations, the people, the energy. It inspired my collection and it shows that I am an outsider looking in. I want to keep seeing things as if for the first time."
Puey Quinones collection for Rouge will launch this spring 2007 in Manila, London, and Barcelona.
