{ }Hello Ms. Puno,

Please consider this submission to your office as a for-mal expression of my intention to to join Preview as an intern. I’ve taken it upon myself to include only the pieces relevant to your magazine, but should you wish to see more, I would be happy to oblidge.

Thank you very much for your time. I do hope to hear from you soon.

Andrea Ang

presentFREELANCE

WRITER + PHOTOGRAPHER

2013 ATENEO DE MANILA

UNIVERSITYPublished in Rogue magazine, ABS-CBN’s Chalk magazine, Rockwell’s PLANT magazine, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Spot.PH within the last five years.

Press release writer for PR company the Aloutta Group on a contractual basis.

Also interested in creative writing in fiction, although looking for experi-ence in publishing.

Graduated in March 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Management, major in Communications Technol-ogy.

Simultaneously earned a minor in Enterprise Development, through participation in a hands-on business incubator and accelerator program under the John Gokongwei School of Management.

Dean’s Lister for two semesters.

andrea ang216 E. RODRIGUEZ ST., SAN JUAN

+63 917 515 3381ANDREASANG@GMAIL.COM

Chief Operating Officer of incorpo-rated food enterprise Top Dog. Cre-ated logistics plans for various selling channels. Sourced supplies, ingredi-ents, and materials for operations.

Founded on experience in Manila’s food scene and backed by a sincere passion for good food, Top Dog intro-duced quality, natural sausages us-ing the best and freshest ingredients to Manila’s hungry and increasingly discriminating denizens.

Nurtured under the guidance of the John Gokongwei School of Manage-ment Business Accelarator program.

Knowledgeable of Mac and Windows platforms. Proficient in Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign. Interested in history, cultural preservation, photography, creative writing, litera-

ture, graphic design, and the business of doing good.

A full resume-- including more rextra-curricular activities and at-tended training programs or conferences-- as well as a transcript of records and references can be made available upon request.

THE GUIDON

Pitched, researched, and wrote articles for the Features section (SY 2011 - 2013) of Ateneo’s official student pub-lication.

Covered a variety of topics and peo-ple, inlcuding: Jim Paredes, the state of improv in the Philip-pines, socio-cultural non-profit organi-zation Musikero, among others.

2012

Communications intern from June to August. Wrote Programme docu-ments and press releases for various events. Created a comprehensive cataloguing system for the UNDP’s publications. Assisted in the design and content upgrade of the web-site.

2010 RUNWAY

PRODUCTIONSPublic Relations and Marketing intern for Philippine Fashion Week S/S 2010 and F/W 2010.

Coordinated with PR firm Buensalido as PFW’s official liason. Monitored execution of MOA. Developed a comprehensive cata-loguing system used by retail brands for runway shows.

COLLEGIATE SOCIETY OF ADVERTISING

Lead the organization as Execu-tive Vice President (SY 2012 - 2013), Secretary-General (SY 2011 - 2012), and Associate Vice President for Accounts (SY 2010 - 2011).

Involved in the conceptualization and scheduling of the organiza-tion’s projects. Executed various administrative tasks. Managed important documents and files. Represented the organization in the Federation of Advertising Organizations, the youth arm of the Philippine Association for National Advertisers.

UNITED NATIONSDEVELOPMENTPROGRAMMEPHILIPPINES

beyond the

There’s a reason people don’t walk around naked. From the preppy polo-wearing jocks to lazily dressed video gamers, bowtie-touting dandies to APC-worshipping hipsters—even when a person doesn’t list fashion as one of his interests or priorities, clothes are an every-day necessity.

Wearing clothes, however, is only one leg of the race. Fashion design culminates in either an all-out runway show or even the simple idea of putting clothes on a person’s back, but it takes months and months of draping, embel-lishing, even acid dip-dyeing, to produce what will eventually be hanging in your closet.

‘You don’t understand, this is Alaia’

The Philippines’ fashion cycle is extremely dif-ferent from the norm. Maybe it’s the two-sea-son climate, maybe it’s the economic situation:

beyond the

either way, it’s a stark comparison. Fashion media and even the designers themselves take a backseat to the influence of celebrities and fashion bloggers, who are walking billboards for fast fashion.

Philippine Fashion Week is also lacking an influence on fashion trends. While Fashion Week has given younger designers the opportunity to get their names out there and clients in their studios, it also shows a deficiency in directional fashion.

In the September 2012 issue of local magazine Rogue, writer Gabbie Tatad questions why mass-market retail brands such as Penshoppe participate, “a rare practice in international Fashion Week counterparts.” Given that Fashion Week is supposed to be a point of confluence for true design concept and innovation, it becomes difficult for emerging designers to develop their brands into something more than a bi-annual runway show.

CUT

RajoMan brand manager Martin Yambao (AB EU ’10) was also surprised to find there isn’t much wiggle room for the new breed of de-signers. After a brief stint under family-owned accessories retailer Aranaz, Yambao has since become indispensible in Rajo Laurel’s House of Laurel empire. It was then that he learned put-ting clothes on a person’s back isn’t as straight-forward as it sounds.

“The journey should be, you present a collec-tion, buyers buy it, and then when you get big enough, you have your own store na,” he shares. “Here kasi in the Philippines, the design direction is, mostly, made-to-order. And then if you’re big enough, you have your own store.

“Parang yun yung growth and yung direction, which is kind of weird. There are no high-end re-tailers [like Lane Crawford or Neiman Marcus] that would buy you and stock you in their store. I mean if there are, very little lang, mostly in con-signers. It’s harder to survive.”

Expanding horizons

It doesn’t help that the industry is getting crowd-ed. In between mass-market retailers like Bench and couturiers like Cary Santiago, there are a lot of local “brands” with ready-to-wear offer-ings manned by people who have no real back-ground in fashion other than a burning interest for it.

Many of these people choose to work by imitat-ing or altering existing designs, without having to go through the cycles of true fashion design, such as creating a pattern and fitting on a dress form or model—and yet they call themselves fashion designers. Because of this, there is a distorted per-ception of fashion, popular particularly with the youth: those who have had no real exposure to the fashion industry think it’s an easy job that anyone can do.

Management engineering senior Andy Wong shares that it took a Marketing and Law depart-ment class on Fashion Merchandising Manage-ment to completely comprehend the complexity of the fashion industry. While she enjoyed fashion as a consumer, “the industry itself to me, seemed in-timidating borderline untouchable,” she explains of her attitude toward fashion. “I had no family in the industry, no nitty gritty know-how, and no formal classes.”

From forecasting trends to dealing with inventory, vi-sual merchandising to store layout, the class opened Wong’s eyes to how business and creativity must intersect in order to be successful in fashion.

The big leagues

Let’s compare and contrast. On one hand, there’s young fashion designer Martin Bautista who many in the industry believe to be the next big name in local fashion design; on the other, there’s Inter-disciplinary Studies junior Adi Amor and her line Aveadena.

Bautista details his creative process for a run-way show. “I gather all my thoughts and inspi-ration and emotions and also in what direction do I wanna go with for a collection. And then, basically that’s where the challenge comes in. How do I make these into a collection?”

Bautista pauses to look at his hands, as if to imagine them sewing together a gown for his client—the empowered woman—before continu-ing, “Like yung inspiration, yung mga naiisip ko at yung mga gusto kong gawin. The challenge is how to make it marketable to people, make it wearable, make it into a piece of garment that’s going to last for a while.”

This is where his preferred aesthetic shows. Bau-tista’s own minimalist approach goes hand in hand with what he wants for his clothes: lon-gevity. “Parang, after twenty years, they could still wear it. And then of course, my team and I work on the collection, have fittings with the models and then on the day of the show… of course it’s not easy. One day before the show we still edit,” he reveals.

Communication senior and Preview magazine intern Samantha Sadhwani is sympathetic: “I can’t even begin to imagine how tough a

young designer’s journey is. There is so much that is required—keeping up with the daily trends, conjuring up numerous unique ideas, making seasonal collec-tions, to name a few. It’s a really long and laborious process.”

Dipping your toes in

Amor, however, operates on a completely different level. She buys cloth, then sits down with a seam-stress to discuss what she wants. “I sketch it, and then I tell her I want a detail here or there, and she’ll make it happen,” Amor explains. “Sometimes I get the actual cloth and I show her how I want it [to] fall. Or because I don’t know the terms for it, I have to show them a picture.”

After a loose version of it is completed—Amor esti-mates roughly 80%—they meet again for Amor to check if the seamstress understood her vision. The next time they meet, Amor will have in her hands any number of pieces, at whatever measurements she specified.

This also lends some insight on labor in the Philippines: many people get clothes made by seamstresses for next to nothing, when in other countries, such skill level would demand a higher price point, especially given that these brands are supposedly able to com-pete on the same level as real fashion designers.

This divide in such an important dimension of fashion design is telling. “Gucci keeps it in Italy. [It’s about] craftsmanship talaga. It’s found where you are, kasi you control it,” Yambao points out. “Especially the more high-end you go, keep it home. Keep it at home be-cause that’s what you’re selling: the craft, the quality.

THIS PIECE WAS WRITTEN FOR

THE ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY’S THE GUIDON, HENCE COMPLIANCE WITH THE NEWSPAPER’S STYLISTIC REQUIREMENTS. IT WAS PUB-LISHED IN THE NOVEMBER

2012 ISSUE, UNDER THE FEATURES SECTION.

Though the retail aspect talaga, you can’t beat China. You can buy a finished dress [there], wala pa yung labor dito. That’s insane.”

A call to arms

In a mix of English and Filipino, Bautista lends a democratic voice to the definition of fashion design. He brushes aside technical skill or a fashion school pedigree in favor of the translation of emotion. “I consider a person a designer if the clothes have soul. If they have depth—and not just simply clothes,” he emphasizes. “Real designers are the ones who make clothes they a person can really wear. For me real clothes should be like a language everyone could understand. For me, that’s the real designer.”

Getting clothes made won’t make you an industry leader, though it’s a step in the right direction. While there is nothing wrong with a can-do approach toward fashion, one must give credit where it’s due. As seen in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, a multi-billion dollar industry doesn’t become one for nothing.

After all, everyone wears clothes.

lest we forgetIn the months leading up to his second ready-to-wear collec-tion for Yves Saint Laurent, creative director Hedi Slimane announced that the “Yves” would be dropped. Despite the divided opinions, one thing was for sure: the iconic fashion house was taking a new direction.

Unbeknownst to many, Slimane had already spent a few years at YSL, until the Gucci group bought the house in 2000. Tom Ford took over the ready-to-wear brand, and injected his own preference for the overtly sexy. From then until 2004, the house’s aesthetic was at its most provoca-tive—and its most lucrative. Ford brought the nearly bank-rupt YSL into the mainstream; by the time he parted ways with the Gucci group, it was valued at $4.3 billion.

lest we forget

Stefano Pilati’s grip held YSL for more than a decade after, as he rose from ready-to-wear designer to head designer to creative director. Despite Yves Saint Laurent himself closing the couture house of YSL in 2002 due to his failing health, the brand moved away from Ford’s risqué influence and rediscovered its French heritage through Pilati’s guidance.

Meanwhile, Slimane found himself at the helm of another industry icon, Dior Homme, de-signing game-changing collections that pushed the envelope of menswear. Ex-pectations were high to do the same for what is now simply Saint Laurent.

It would be an understatement to say that Slimane’s follow-up to the well-received Spring 2013 ready-to-wear collection fell short of those expectations. The sophomore showing at the famed design house left a bad taste in the mouth: a total departure from Spring, when he paid hom-age to all things YSL—the signature smolder, the pussy bows, the pantsuits, and of course, le smoking—with the distinctly Los Angeles vibe champi-oned by Slimane. The energy was decid-edly grunge, keep-ing with many of the other Fall collec-tions, but poorly ex-ecuted. The remarks were catty, the criti-cism fast and furious: some even likened Slimane’s collection to high street brands such as H&M, qual-ity and craftsman-

Despite its poor reception, however, it seems to be part of Sli-mane’s larger strategy. One recalls a similar story, set in the 70s, with an all-too-familiar name: the designer Yves Saint

Laurent himself.

Saint Laurent continually pushed the boundaries of fashion. He was not without critics. Many saw his treatment of French haute couture as tawdry, even blasphemous—but he carried on, sending looks down runways that went against the tide of corseting and whalebone construction. While many of today’s classics—from navy peacoats to safari jackets, trapeze dresses

to mousselines—owe their conception to Saint Laurent, it took years before the genius of his

work was recognized.

But more so than redefining silhouettes, he redefined the woman who wore them. In the 1970, that woman, the “woman of the moment,” was the elegant jetsetter

dripping with glamour and allure who followed no agenda but her own. Now, in 2013, who is

this woman? Slimane’s answer seems to be embodied by his Fall

collection—dishelved, unkempt girls whose heels pound the streets of concrete jungles on a day to day basis.

It certainly explains Slimane’s other choices. A boutique opened late 2012 in Shanghai, crafted almost entirely in glass and marble—the design is con-

contemporary and sleek, a stark contrast to previous stores’ minimalist baroque detailing. The label’s 2013 campaigns are black and white portraits of alt-folk singer-songwriter Beck and 17-year-old pop sensation Sky Ferreria, over the supermodels they typically feature. Most telling, however, is the relocation of its studio on upscale Avenue George V to the more subversive Left Bank area, whose beatnik subcul-ture heavily influenced Saint Laurent’s designs in the 60s.

Slimane’s message seems to be loud and clear. Saint Lau-rent’s name, ambassadors and aesthetic may change, but its direction will always be the same: forward.

An edited version of this article was published in Rogue magazine’s April 2013 issue under the title “Saints & Sin-ners.”

WALKING ONA DREAMYou’d expect even some sort of friction from a 23-year-old artista.

Perhaps the occasional brush with authority, or a raging alcohol dependency. A history of abuse, or links to black channel dealings, maybe. Unresolved childhood trauma, commitment issues, a total lack of work ethic?

Not even.

As far as the eye can see, Gerald Anderson is the anomaly of a generation that defines itself by the colloquialism “YOLO”—that is, a conflict-free zone.

Foundations

In his capacity as an actor, there are no behind-the-scenes whispers about diva demands, mal-treatment of backstage crew, or locking a fellow cast member in a bathroom stall. In his romantic life, there are no overtly complicated love quad-rangles, questions about his sexuality, or treacher-ous two-timing. In his relationships with his family, there is no Lindsay Lohan-type crazy brewing under the surface, threatening to ruin his career.

Do a quick Google search, even: the most scandalous item that pops up will be a rumour that he recently talked to former flame Sarah Geronimo’s mother.

The truth is, Gerald’s own personal relationships are truly solid. He recently built a house for his mother back in his native General Santos, and flies back to see her when he can. He gives life advice to his younger brother, Kenneth. His managers and handlers seem fond of him, shar-ing more than simple pleasantries at the Star Magic office. His showbiz BFF is Rayver Cruz,

WALKING ONA DREAM

ex-boyfriend of Sarah. He goes on boys-only trips with friends in the industry, such as En-chong Dee.

A fixture on the local showbiz scene since he shot to fame on local reality show Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition, you’d expect the so-called Zac Efron of the Philippines to have some of a rockstar complex. Instead, you have Gerald sprinkling “po” throughout every sentence, and nothing less than grateful for everything he’s achieved so far.

Hype beast

As he sits down for the interview, there is no air of pretension, no name-dropping, no throw-ing his weight around. Gerald is easygoing and unassuming—to the point that you realize that an impressive filmography is the only thing that differentiates him from being just a name in your cell phone.

When he isn’t killing it at the box offices with every kilig-inducing Star Cinema offering, Ger-ald is really a guy’s guy. His eyes light up when he mentions his recent video game acquisition 2k13, and his terminology gets technical when he lays down the details of his workout routine. He’s learning a martial art for a new show he’s working on—a task that would be for-midable for some, but Gerald only expresses disappointment that the originally scripted jiu jitsu was changed out for the more cinematic tae kwon do.

His vice—and the only one, at that—howev-er, seems to be adrenaline. A recent trip to Las Vegas found Gerald and friends bun-gee-jumping, sky-diving and riding extreme

rollercoasters all in one day. Gerald is no stranger to the thrill: he’s gone snowboarding in Alaska and div-ing with sharks, and, he adds, “if there’s something that comes along na extreme din, I’d want to do that.”

Booking it

It’s no surprise then that Gerald is steering his career down the path of action movie star. While his career pegs are Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Gerald is always on the lookout for a challenge. In choosing his roles, he looks for “something that, you know, kakabahan ako, yung I’d doubt myself. That’s where you work best, eh, kapag you’re under pressure and you’re challenged. Kasi ayaw mo naman yung paulit-ulit yung ginagawa mo.”

Gerald focuses on making smart career choices, not taking for granted even the idea of being in the busi-ness five, ten, twenty years from now. This focus is perhaps the reason why 2012 proved to be his year, with a starring role in ABS-CBN primetime drama Budoy and his appointment as a Malacanang am-bassador to the Mindanao peace process.

“I get to inspire a lot of people,” he shares, referenc-ing the mentally challenged Budoy he played on the same-titled show. He then used his celebrity for the better cause of peace, surprising himself at the im-pact made by his presence at the framework agree-ment to create a Moro homeland.

“Yung mga Muslims sa Mindanao… kasi that was the first time na maraming pong Muslims na nan-doon for the signing,” he elaborates of the role he shares with Anne Curtis. “Sobra po silang natutuwa na andun ako kasi they were just really happy na part ako ng… yung nangyayari, yung

THIS PIECE WAS THE COVER STORY OF CHALK MAGAZINE’S DECEM-BER 2012 - JANUARY 2013 ISSUE. IT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY TWO SIDE-BARS, AS INSTRUCTED BY THE CHALK EDITORIAL TEAM, BOTH WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED HERE.

Bull session

At a certain point during the in-terview, Gerald has answered all of your questions—and you real-ize that every single one of these answers was the perfect one.

When you point out his lack of relationship drama, he replies that he has some, “just like a normal person.” When you ask how he figured out so early on this is what he wanted to do, as compared to most people his age who normally don’t have a clue, his answer is that he just went with the flow and eventually “re-alized na I like what I’m doing, yung passion ko is acting.” When you ask if he feels that he missed out on being young, he flips the question and says with a know-ing smile, “siyempre sa trabaho po namin, you get to experience a lot of things. Siguro I just do the things in a very fun way.”

And yet despite the controlled, cautious, al-most calculated responses, you realize that there is still an air of honesty about him. You realize that he really believes in his an-swers, that they most likely do come from him, that what you see is truly what you get. Just because an artista isn’t a train-wreck doesn’t mean that they’re being brainwashed by management—Gerald is that rare combination of guarded but charismatic, reserved but playful, discreet but clever.

It’s exactly this talent for push and pull that leaves people wanting more. Gerald, whose only online presence is a healthy addiction to Instagram, seems to know when to step in and out of the spotlight, baring just enough to keep people interested but at the same time, maintain a certain mystery.

It definitely works: if more than 22,000 Instagram followers is proof of anything, it seems like everyone wants to keep up with Gerald Anderson.

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i m a g e C R E D I T S

BEYOND THE CUT

All photos taken by myself. The vectorized pair of scissors was sourced from http://cli-partist.info, although it was edited to meet layout needs.

LEST WE FORGET

All photos taken from the Saint Laurent Par-is Fall 2013 campaign, sourced from various websites, except for the photos of Rogue’s pages-- the G Tongi cover was taken from the Rogue Facebook page (http://fb.com/rogue.magazine), while the published article spread was taken by myself.

WALKING ON A DREAM

The profile of Gerald came from the Pre-view Men November 2011 shoot, although the photo itself was sourced from Fashion Media PH (http://fashionmediaph.blogspot.com). The Chalk cover was taken from the magazine’s official Tumblr account (http://chalkmagazine.tumblr.com).