THE Elegant Filipina
Ti n g T i n g ’ s List: The Elegant Filipina” represents admirable figures of womanhood where elegance is keynote. It is headed by two women of beauty and refinement t h e m s e l v e s — Consul General Fortune Ledesma and TingTing Cojuangco. It was an epic moment for my hubby Rupert when one of 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 lineup. 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 10 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 premier showcase of cutting-edge designer Albert Andrada introduced his exciting London and New York collection. His evening wear moved in a sophisticated new light, with updated twists on fashion classics.THE Elegant
Filipina
The event raised funds for the benefit of PLDT-Smart Foundation’s Gabay Guro program, which organizes and facilitates training for over 20,000 teachers nationwide. Manuel V. Pangilinan and Chaye Cabal-Revilla aim to add 10,000 more teacher-scholars to their roster.
www.tinajacinto.com