Elmer Lapeña Named Executive Managing Director of SAGA

Events and production company SAGA just recently announced the designation of Executive Managing Director to Elmer Lapeña. Aside from being a director and producer of different shows, he has been in the company for 20+ years taking on lead posts in different capacities, it is now his time.

This coincides with the announcement of the renaming of SAGA from its previous Saga Events Incorporated to now being a full fledged experiential company. For those who don't know, I've watched several Philippine Fashion Week Shows and International brand launches that have been handled and executed by their group. SAGA was founded by Robby Carmona in 1995 and this expansion means they'll be taking on not just production of shows and events but physical and virtual ones, experiential marketing, digital solutions and production of content following business plans and branding ideas accordingly.

Currently, they have clients including Shell, Xiaomi, Century Tuna, Under Armour, Spotify and a whole lot more availing their services. This includes online, hybrid or physical events, website and digital campaigns for them just to name a few. Albeit challenging these days, Lapeña says "Times have been challenging for us in the industry and the recent easement of restrictions bring us hope, to hopefully brighter days for SAGA and our clients. We are bigger, better, happy about taking on this leadership role. Cheers to all of us in the industry!"

Congratulations and hope to see you in your upcoming shows!

HUMAN, Cotton On, Proudrace for Bench Fashion Week Day 2

On the second day of BENCH FASHION WEEK, we've got 3 more brands from from Suyen Corporation that represents the young, hip and fashion forward street style courtesy of HUMAN (one of my favorites!), Cotton On (the Australian retail brand), and local brand PROUDRACE (who did a very controversial line up on this day).

They're very different from the first day wherein it was more feminine, romantic and edgy. On this occasion it was more on basics, colorful, current, trendy, and a bit androgynous on the last part of the show. I was looking for the PROUDRACE designers to ask them about it but I couldn't find them. HUMAN stayed true to their form of street wear, which I usually dig, but they transcend age and can be worn by teens, to young professionals without really going overboard. They have comfortable hoodies, shirts, shorts, workout pants and my favorite SHOES! Cotton On as I mentioned earlier stayed on the basics, very airy, comfy cool fabrics which made up most of their shirts and a couple of skirts, long sleeved plaids and outdoor wear. Proudrace for me was delving more on the dark, super oversized drapes and material you'll often seen in raincoats, jackets or tents. I've seen designers abroad do that and seeing a local one do it had me thinking, I need to talk to them and ask about their inspiration. There must be a reason why, and I think that's good. Check out the show on photos below!

HUMAN

Kashieca, Vero Moda, Sassa Jimenez Starts Fierce Bench Fashion Week Day1

It's been a while since we've seen Bench do a shown on the runway. They've also grown their other brands over the years and have built partnerships with talented Filipino designers because they believe in our innate talent. This weekend, they're holding a 3 day BENCH FASHION WEEK and is featuring Kashieca, Vero Moda and the works of Sassa Jimenez. I lt was young, fresh, and elegant. I couldn't find more words to describe the show so I'll make you be the judge. I took photos of all the clothes in the runway and I hope you enjoy this! I barely slept editing photos last night so I hope you like this!

Oh and before the show, we saw real life sweethearts Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. They were welcomed by the big man Ben Chan himself before they got to their seats. There were a couple of beauty queens, artists, models too but I was so excited to share these shots and got them all here for you to see. Follow me @kumagcow on IG and Twitter to say thanks, I'd appreciate that! :)

Daniel Padilla

Kathryn Bernardo

KathNiel with Ben Chan

Check out these runway shots, I hope you feel like you're in the front row after this!