We’ve heard of the pop-singer-turned-fashion-designer, the rapper-turned-fashion designer and the hotel heiress-turned-model-turned-singer-turned-fashion-designer, but we may have heard it all with the latest turn of events in the Philippines.
Oh, yes, fashion has no boundaries. Just ask former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos (the one who made headlines for her vast shoe collection). According to news reports, she is embarking on a new project – a fashion line.
The 77-year-old widow of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos told reporters Monday that she planned to launch “The Imelda Collection” of fashion jewelry and accessories later this month. Of course, the news of her new fashion line initiated a chorus of heckles from some who recalled how she became notorious for her shopping trips to ritzy shops in New York while her country wallowed in poverty under martial law declared by her husband.
Marcos didn’t let the outbursts deter her; rather her daughter, Imee Marcos told reporters that the first of Imelda Marcos’ designs to be shown to the public would be the accessories and the jewelry and will “not yet” include shoes. (I had to chuckle at that.)
Something else that made me smile was the report that Imelda Marcos would not only be the spokesperson for her new line, but a model for it as well. At the news conference to launch “The Imelda Collection” the former Philippine first lady posed on a divan in a Manila hotel’s seaside garden where she was photographed wearing a gossamer top, black pants and several chunky necklaces, rings and bracelet sets from her collection.
I realize most of you may not know Marcos well enough to be interested that she has a new fashion line out, however, I grew up in Hawaii where the woman is somewhat of a celebrity. Hawaii has a large population of Filipinos and back in the 80s Imelda had somewhat of a cult following (think Princess Diana). I don’t doubt that her line will do well in Hawaii—I just wonder how well it will do in other parts of the world?