Elegant Filipina
‘TingTing’s List: The Elegant Filipina’ represents admirable figures of womanhood where elegance is keynote, headed by two women of beauty and refinement themselves – Consul general Fortune Ledesma and TingTing Cojuangco. It was an epic moment for my hubby Rupert when Harper’s Bazaar‘s “100 Most Beautiful Women in the World”, TingTing de los Reyes Cojuangco made headlines, and his portrait of her won an international award in Japan at the UNESCO-sponsored “Women of Asia” photographic exposition of the Asian Cultural Center in 1979.
Celebrating its fourth year, The Elegant Filipina was held at the Diamond Hotel ballroom with a stellar line-up. In her welcome speech, chairperson Fortune said: “When we started this work in 2015, we determined that a model of elegance builds and leaves behind a legacy of grace, wisdom and compassion and above all, their goal is to make a positive contribution in their respective communities“. The ladies were selected by a committee imbued with Coco Chanel’s belief that the inner self should be as beautiful as their appearance; and that through their examples, they encourage others to take steps however small, to work for the betterment of our world.
The ten women of elegance selected for their style, grace, compassion, wisdom and intelligence were: KC Concepcion, Stephanie Zubiri Crespi, Apples Aberin, Jessica Kienle Maxwell, Marga Montemayor Nograles, Mai Mai Cojuangco, Kai Lim, Carla Guevara Laforteza, Dr. Diane Cua, and Small Laude. The premiere showcase of cutting-edge designer Albert Andrada introduced his exciting London and New York collection. His eveningwear moved in a sophisticated new light, with updated twists on fashion classics.
The event raised funds for the benefit of PLDT Smart Foundation‘s Gabay Guro program which organizes and facilitates teacher training for over 20,000 teachers nationwide. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and Ms. Chaye Cabal-Revilla, chairman of the Gabay Guro Foundation aim to add 10,000 more teachers-scholars to their roster.