RL Fashion & Lifestyle Summer 2011 Collection

RL Fashion & Lifestyle Summer RTW 2011 Collection

"Flora, Fauna, and Femme Fatale!"

Now available off the rack @

Door 5 Pelayo Bldg, Juan Luna St, Davao City

(82) 284-0428

In this video
Models: Aliah Heitz & Prexy Whittmer
Photography by Joemar Lamata/Mayen Lozada
Styling & Design by Jill Palarca/Kenny Ladaga
Hair & Make-up by Peter Recto
Shot at Chateau Del Mar, Lizada Beach, Lanang, Davao City

Mutya ng Davao 2011 Irene Lascuna wears a dress by RL Fashion & Lifestyle!

We're thrilled to share that the newly crowned Mutya ng Davao 2011, IRENE LASCUNA, wore a dress by RL Fashion & Lifestyle designed by Kenny Ladaga during the semi-final round. That night she was picked to be at the Top 5. Then last March 15, she was crowned MUTYA NG DAVAO 2011!

RL Fashion & Lifestyle
Door 5 Pelayo Bldg, Juan Luna St, Davao City
(82) 284-0428
0922-8384981
www.rlfashionlifestyle.multiply.com

My New Career in Fashion

RL Fashion & Lifestyle is the new upscale atelier of Raquel's Apparel & Dress Shop. 

RL specializes in made-to-order couture for weddings, debuts, other occasions, and even pets! 

More than just your average dress shop, RL is also a boutique that features imported brands as well as export quality locally manufactured RTW, shoes, bags, and accessories for casual and formal use. 
From fashion to lifestyle, RL has everything covered as we also offer event planning consultancy and coordination services for brides, debutantes, and other celebrants. 

Indeed we stay true to our tagline, “It starts with the dress. We’ll take care of the rest.”

For the past 15 years, Raquel's Apparel has been one of the premiere dress shops in Davao City -- producing high-quality uniforms for countless corporate and government offices all over Mindanao, and creating elegant yet affordable gowns, cocktail dresses, and suits for all ages and events. From experts to ingénues, we are proud to have creative and award-winning designers and highly-skilled clothing technicians working for our brand.

On the 18th of February 2011, Raquel’s Apparel formally opened its new branch in the name of “RL Fashion & Lifestyle”. Located in the neighbourhood of Davao City's foremost college ADDU, the shop is definitely within reach of the metro's chic and trendy crowd.

Music and Fashion

One of the things I really enjoyed during my stint as manager/agent for rock band The Late Isabel was the FASHION. The vocalist Wawi is definitely one of the the band's strongest asset. Her art goes beyond the songs of Isabel. Her fashion sense, and the band's image in general, is in itself a performance. They were, and probably still are, one of the most fashionable local bands in the country. That is why during my time with them I had the privilege of creating fashion campaigns for them:

The band wearing PAUL SMITH for the NU Rock Awards pictorial

@ The MTV Style Awards where they did a goth cover of Abba's "Dancing Queen" together with Filipino Scottish bagpiper Roy Macgregor-Espiritu

Modeling for the jewelry collection of the Greenbelt Shopping Plaza (photography by Becky Garcia)

Before Vampires were Trendy AKA My Days as a Goth Band Manager

It's generally hard to aim for mainstream when the product thrives in the subculture genre. But well... at least we tried with this band and it was quite an experience...

I've been good friends with THE LATE ISABEL folk even before I became their "ad hoc" manager/agent back in 2004. I've been watching their gigs until one day I suddenly found myself doing marketing for the re-issue and major distribution of their first studio album "Doll's Head" and the production of their 2nd music video "My Favorite Things" -- the nightmare version of the Julie Andrews/Sound of Music classic.

The first challenge was to find sponsors to reproduce the album and a music label to distribute the CDs. This was way before "emo" and "Twilight", mind you. Peddling the idea of fashionable vampires was still unpopular. Been there done that, indeed.

Thanks to some maverick sponsors (and good friends) The Store With No Name, 6 Underground, GBX Shoes, and would you believe even the old Greenbelt Shopping Plaza, I was able to pool enough resources to produce a new music video and the re-packaged first album "Doll's Head" which now contains not just songs but also the two music videos of the band -- "Doll's Head" and the new one "My Favorite Things"

Here's the video we produced on a shoestring budget but came out quite sophisticated.

Tween Marketing

It was 2004 and it was my first time to hear about the word "TWEEN" which meant that prepubescent stage between the ages of 8 to 14, 9 to 12, or 8 to 12, depending on whom you believe. The brand "She's Charmed and Dangerous!" was one of the first licenses to make a breakthrough in the tween market in the Philippines. This hip brand embodied the spirit of today's young lifestyle, featuring a cast of multicultural girlfriends who have a passion for fashion.

Click Licensing Asia got me to write some press releases for its Fashion Show Mall Tour launch.