Chinese New Year was a tad nicer when we celebrated it in Sofitel Manila. Aside from the scrumptious food served on their restaurant Spiral, Manila's best buffet, they went ahead and got it up a notch to put in a whole fashion show courtesy of world renowned royalty designer Albert Andrada. His collection called "Shanghai Nights" sashayed as onlookers were struck in awe of this 15 piece collection. Let's take a look at the scenes a few days ago!
Present during the occasion was Sofitel Manila's GM Adam Laker with Philippine Social Butterfly Tessa Prieto Valdez and ANTM World renowned designer (personal friend of Albert Andrada) Michael Cinco.
Ice sculptures, arrangements, calligraphic artists made their own Year of the Wooden Horse impressions. Everything was exquisite at Spiral.
Spiral's own Chefs created a special menu for the occasion and the Chinese host also serenaded the crowd with music in Mandarin if I'm not mistaken.
Albert Andrada opens up the show with black numbers, skirts in different lengths with gold accents here and there. He pulls this off without looking tacky, I am not surprised. This is why he's making raves in the middle east scene. The drapery, the placement of the gold would not take away the elegance he wanted to exude in these black dresses.
Well done.
Models went up and down on this escalator, then did a short walk on Spiral's corridors. I like the Shanghai "traveler cum damsel in distress" look on this one. He's using a lot of Red, White, Black and Gold in this collection... which are the lucky colors in Chinese tradition. He's too giving in putting in embellishments in each piece. I've seen Topaz, Swarovzki Crystals, real gold and silver pieces on the dresses. This is his brand of "opulence" says the proud Filipino designer.
He also used red sheer fabric. It gives a very sultry look on the models and yes, I think it's meant to tease a bit (like a pre valentine perhaps?). This is actually part of the collection he showed in Philippine Fashion Week 2013 for Spring-Summer. He's also got some good looking guys in suits. They've got that gold accent in the pockets making this cohesive with his original designs. Pretty cool right?
The details on that white number with the long black skirt had us dreaming of something similar in full gowns. The lace and bead work on that must have taken hours to make. That's pretty daring and bold. The white dress and the long gown made me think of emeralds, he did green belts on them showing the female form. The embroidery on that is surreal. I also like the gold cuff like thing on the shirt while it's coming out on the suit. I want one actually LOL.
I even loved it more when worn without pads inside. I think that just makes it more properly shown right. It balances things. It shows enough and hides everything else that it needs to. Great work Mr. Andrada.
This red gown was also nice. It made me reminisce those Chinese martial arts movies that's got fairies in them. That and their nice complexion. Isn't this dreamy? Although it might not be safe with extreme lighting... sheer fabric would show some if you know what I mean.
Two words. Hideo Muraoka. You don't get more handsome than that.
The details on the next few dresses were nothing but grand and the designs are running to almost avant garde. Albert Andrada breathes high fashion. To stamp on that fact, this dress came in.
This is a beige wedding dress made of tulle, where portions are encrusted with Colorado topaz, silver and gold colored Swarovski crystals. This just spells shock and awe to end the show. Albert Andrada adds that not all bride dresses should be sweet, now it can be done striking and exuberant.I totally agree!
Congratulations Albert Andrada for a great show! You've already made your mark recently in the Grammy's for dressing up Paris Hilton which got rave reviews, but showing this on an evening of opulence is but astounding! Thanks for showing the best designs! Twas nice meeting you too during the Sofitel quarterly launch. This is how Sofitel Manila celebrates life; and this is exactly why I adore them... and have them as my favorite hotel in the Philippines!
P.S. As if the evening wasn't grand enough, they gave Spiral diners more prizes just by celebrating CNY in the hotel. Ms. Yasmine Hidalgo (center) and people from Sofitel made sure you'll feel special all the way!
Photos from this post were all taken by my blogger friend Myke Soon. You can check out his website at http://mixofeverything.blogspot.com/. Super thanks Myke for covering for me! :)
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