Efren Ocampo finds his perfect muse in Gwendoline Ruais

MANILA, Philippines - When SM designer Efren Ocampo was working on his new collection, he thought that Miss World Philippines 2011 Gwendoline Ruais, who dazzled as First Princess at the recent Miss World beauty pageant held in London, would be his perfect muse.

Inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s legendary performance in the classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the collection is an ode to beauty and soft and alluring feminine silhouettes. Ocampo says he designed his clothes for “a very sexy and confident woman.” With a body-conscious silhouette, these elegant jersey clothes in white, black, gold, purple, and blue are perfect for “dressy evenings, and for going to restaurants and concerts.”

Ocampo has known Gwendoline for most of her life. He met her mother, the former Malu Ramos, when he was working as an assistant designer for Dante Ramirez, for whom she was modeling. Malu and Efren became good friends and kept in touch even when she became an international model, married Frenchman Vincent Ruais and had children.

When Gwendoline was 13, the family then moved back to Manila. After living abroad for sometime, Ocampo asked her to model for his line at SM. “It’s a dream to dress her up,” he says. “She’s tall, slim, pretty, and wears her clothes well. He adds, “She’s still the same sweet girl that I knew when she was 13. I hope she stays that way.”

Gwendoline Gaelle Sandrine Ramos Ruais, 22, was born in the Philippines. The second of three children — she has an older sister, Gwenaelle, and a younger brother, Thibault — she considers Thibault “the tallest in the family.”

With her mixed heritage and her father’s work with Air France, where he was general manager of the Asia-Pacific region, Gwendoline’s upbringing was rather global. The family lived in Thailand and France before the family moved back to the Philippines in 2001. She spent her high school and college years here and is a BA Business Management graduate of the Southville Foreign University in Las Piñas, where she was part of the honors program.

After coming back to the Philippines from the Miss World pageant, Gwendoline has been busy with TV guestings and hostings — she is a regular on GMA’s Party Pilipinas. And then, of course, she has her duties with the Miss World organization. She will be leaving this February to travel to countries like Mongolia to promote the next Miss World pageant in August.

She describes joining the Miss World competition as a “once in a lifetime experience” that has allowed her to travel and meet new friends. As the world’s largest pageant, “there are 113 girls, and those of us who have been friends are planning to meet up and travel together when we have passed on our crowns.”

Gwendoline says she is honored that Ocampo had her in mind when he designed his new collection. She “loves his gowns,” which she describes as classy and elegant.

This collaboration between designer and muse goes back full circle to the time she modeled for Ocampo’s line for SM when she was 13 years old, and to his friendship with her mother, Malu.

It also highlights the fact that Gwendoline “loves SM. We would go to SM since we were kids,” she recalls. “We have our special spots — we know what brands we like for what type of clothes. There are so many things to buy there.”

In fact, “we wear clothes we buy from SM in Paris, and people don’t know we got them from Manila. They think they are very high-fashion, very gorgeous. What is wonderful is that we can get very fashionable things for a reasonable price at SM.”

As the daughter of a very stylish mom, Gwendoline says Malu has taught her to “always choose something really nice that fits you. She prefers simple styles that you can use for daytime or evening with the proper accessorizing. “You just have to know where to find the clothes.” And for the Ruais girls, SM is a favorite place.

Gwendoline describes her personal style as “Evolving: my style is the influence of all the different experiences in my life. It has changed over the years, and seeing all the different fashion influences in the Miss World competition has given me a very different perspective.”

Her style tips? “It’s not about following the current trends or what’s in fashion right now. It’s about looking for what fits you best,” she says.

Beautifully shot at the elegant Midas Hotel, the Efren Ocampo collection is available at SM Department Store in Makati, Megamall, North EDSA, Southmall, and SM Mall of Asia.