30 years of Fashion and Passion
MANILA, Philippines - 1979 to 1980
• Career transitions. Inno Sotto lived in Manila and the United States. 1980 saw him win the grand prize for Most Outstanding Designers Competition over Manila’s best fashion designers. This event was held at the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel, judged by a very select international panel of important fashion figures.
1981 to 1985
• Decided to permanently establish himself in Manila. His made-to-order/couture atelier has since been located in Malate, Manila’s fashion district.
1985 to 1986
• Together with some of Manila’s most prominent contemporary designers, he formed and founded Filipino Designers Group (FDG).
1987
• Elected president of Filipino Designers Group (FDG). As president he initiated and launched the FDG Lifetime Achievement Awards. This award recognized the important contributions of select individuals to Philippine Fashion.
• Held a one-man show at the Fiesta Pavilion Ballroom of the Manila Hotel, called “Inno Sotto: SOLO.” This major show established him as the country’s top fashion designer for contemporary haute couture.
1988
• From the city of Manila, he received a special award recognizing him as the Outstanding Filipino Designer of the Year.
1989 to 1990
• Launched Inno Sotto: Luxe Wear – Numerals (a high-end ready-to-wear line). This was presented in a grand fashion presentation at the Manila Hotel and made into a fashion documentary for television entitled Inno Sotto: The Story of a Collection. The soundtrack used in both the fashion show and the TV special was in part composed by designer Sotto.
• Formally opened his boutique on Jan. 27, 1990 at the Greenbelt Mall, Ayala Center. The collection that launched the line was sold out a week after the opening.
1992
• Launched his Luxe Wear Numerals line in Singapore at the Park Mall – Saga-Asean Designers Gallery. The line was launched in Osaka, Japan, in July 1992.
1993 to 1994
• Presented his First Filipiniana collection dubbed “Inno Sotto: Filipino.” This project, which was produced by the Cabinet Ladies Foundation under former First Lady Amelita Ramos was undertaken for the benefit of the country’s first AIDS center. Sotto donated his services for this cause, which raised over P15 million in gross revenues.
• Another project which was also undertaken in keeping with the First Lady’s other programs was the promotion of Filipino fashion and arts and crafts. The invitational preview was held at the Malacañang Ceremonial Hall on Dec. 3 and covered by CNN Style’s Elsa Klensch, which was beamed to over 61 million viewers worldwide. Sotto’s collection was overwhelmingly received with a standing ovation.
• Sotto was also responsible for a special Philippine episode that was aired on Klensch’s Style program on CNN. This special episode featured Philippine fashion, interiors, jewelry and crafts, and promoted tourism for the country.
• “Inno Sotto: Filipino” was restaged in January 1994 at the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel. It again received a standing ovation led by former President Fidel V. Ramos and Mrs. Amelita Ramos. The collection was presented several times after, including a command performance for Datin Seri Hasmah, wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister, all of which was resoundingly received and benefited several charities.
• Inno Sotto did costumes for the opera Madame Butterfly at the Cultural Center of the Philippines collaborating with National Artist Leandro Locsin with opera star Yoko Watanabe.
1995
• “Inno Sotto: Anno XV” marked Sotto’s 15th year in fashion. Numerous projects were undertaken for this beginning with a very successful gala dinner presentation. The proceeds from this event were used to set up a new wing at the Maria Lena Buhay Memorial Foundation, a special school for hearing-impaired children. The production and airing of the TV special called Inno Sotto: 15 Years of Fashion followed in December, 1992.
• Command performance for Madame Olga Havel, First Lady of Czech Republic.
• Held his very first show in Paris at the exclusive Cercle de L’Union Interalliée on the occasion of the reopening of the Department of Tourism Office in Paris.
• Elected President of the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines (FDCP), a newly instituted association which had for its initial project the putting up of a fashion institute and technology school in the Philippines.
• Was involved in conceptualizing and organizing the First ASEAN Design Show which promoted and presented the top ASEAN and Filipino designers. This was again covered by numerous international media and beamed all over the world. Another major project of the Cabinet Ladies Foundation headed by Mrs. Ramos, the ADS was launched at the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel on Dec. 6 to 9 of 1995. The event benefited the rehabilitation and renovation of the National Museum.
1996
• Sotto was hugely responsible for conceptualizing and organizing Amelita Ramos’ special functions and events for the programs of the APEC leaders’ spouses. This included a state dinner hosted by the former First Lady Ramos on Nov. 23 at the Ceremonial Hall of the Malacañang Palace and the Metropolitan Museum fashion presentation which featured two other established Filipino Designers.
• Conceptualized Manila Wear for CITEM (Center for International Missions and Exhibitions, a branch of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines) in connection with the Center’s launch of fashion marketing audio visual presentation and shown to eight different countries worldwide.
1997
• Participated as one of the featured fashion designers in the Fashion Market Week event that took place at the Golden Shell Pavilion in January 23, 1997. His mini collection covered by both local and foreign press media.
• August 1997 – headed a Designers delegation to India in a special program between Citem and the India Trade & Promotion Organization (ITPO). This complementation program promoted Filipino design services using Indian Textiles.
• September 1997 – Participated in the 10th Fashion Convention in Singapore in a Design Exhibition participated by ASEAN countries and India. Sotto’s collection was specifically singled out by International Herald Tribune’s fashion critic, Suzy Menkes, as the collection that best represented or captured Asian designer for the world market.
• Special solo feature on Talk of Asia, a CNBC program that interviews important personalities of ASIAN and ASEAN.
• One of the selected featured designers in the Second ASEAN Design Show. Again, Sotto was greatly responsible for the concept, organization and staging of this prestigious event hosted by the Cabinet Ladies Foundation. He also presided as one of the chief consultants of this pioneering project. In December of 1997, Sotto presented a couture collection that utilized Indian fabrics and textiles.
• Together with his business partner, conceptualized and launched Fashion Watch and Fashion Watch Television and holiday collections of Filipino designers. These two projects are instrumental in the promotion and discovery of talented young designers, professional models, and other fashion-related professions in the country.
1998
• Presented another major gala dubbed “Inno Sotto: Made to Dream” at the Champagne Room of the Manila Hotel in December of this year. This invitational fashion presentation was again resoundingly received, and initiated two new long-term projects for Filipino Designer Group — the Air France Young Designers Competition, and the Ballet Philippines Nutcracker Suite.
1999
• Presented his first major bridal and debutante collection dubbed “Rituals” at the Grand Ballroom of the Dusit Hotel Nikko.
• Command performance for the Infanta Elena of Spain at a private showing in the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Fernando Zobel de Ayala.
• Participated in the Premier Design Exhibition in Singapore from April 11 to 14, 1999.
• Celebrated and marked his 20th anniversary in fashion with the two-month major retrospective exhibit called “Two Decades of Modern Philippine Couture, Inno Sotto: 1st 20th” at the Metropolitan Museum in Manila. This fund-raising event opened with a gala reception on Dec. 12, 1999 and also highlighted Sotto’s latest collection. Benefiting from the event was the Met Museum’s Endowment Fund.
• “1st 20th” Repeat Fashion Gala – February 2001, Manila Peninsula Hotel.
• Evian Millennium Award Fashion – December 1999.
• Red Carpet – Fashion Gala – Oct. 7, 2001 at Shangri-La Edsa Hotel.
• Roehr – Mega Fashion Award – Designer of the Year – November 2001 NBC Tent
2002
• Presented a special couture collection for Unilever during Unilever’s Ponds invitational PINK event at the Manila Peninsula upper lobby.
• Collaborated with Charabot, one of the oldest and most prestigious perfumeries in France, to manufacture his own fragrance line with three variants. During the period, Sotto traveled extensively to Grasse, France, to study and determine the fragrances he wanted under his label Inno Sotto Mondo (ISM). This fragrance line was launched in late October 2004 in his gala show at the newly opened Ayala Museum. The couture show was entitled “Around The Moon: Inno Sotto – Five Women.” The fragrances under the ISM label — namely Huit, Miro and Deauville — are today among the bestselling fragrances in Rustan’s stores.
• The couture show “Around the Moon…” at the Ayala Museum with guest of honor President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was attended by Manila’s social elite and glitterati. It received rare reviews for weeks after the event and was again presented in the fund-raising benefit of the Amade-Virlanie Foundation with guest of honor Princess Caroline of Hanover in attendance at Rizal Ballroom at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. The event successfully raised more than P18 million for the foundation. Coverage of the event was also shown on CNN and in a number of European fashion and lifestyle magazines like Paris Match and Spanish Vogue.
2004
• Appointed as Commissioner for Arts and Culture to UNESCO by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
2005
• January 2005 – Philippine Tatler Society named Inno Sotto as one of the 100 Most Interesting People in Asia. It also named him in the list of Most Influential and Powerful Personalities in Manila’s Cultural, Business, and Social scene for the last three years.
• August 2005 - Guest speaker in his capacity UNESCO Commissioner for Arts and Culture at the American Women Club in Singapore.
• October 2005 - Awarded the Most Creative Force in Fashion and Arts by Tatler Philippines magazine.
• December 2005 – Presented “Beloved,” an opera-inspired collection in collaboration with opera singers from the Metropolitan Opera New York for the benefit of the Virlanie Foundation.
2006
• April 2006 - Presented his collection “Allegra under the Pink Sky of the Secret Garden” at the Makati Stock Exchange Garden Plaza.
2007
• June 2007 – Appointed as creative director for Rustan Commercial Corporation.
• October 2007 – Presented his collection “Alhambra” in collaboration with accessory and bag designer Bea Valdes.
2008
• April 2008 – Creative Consultant for Bravo Filipino fashion show at the Greenbelt 5.
• Produced Fashion Watch Quarter with Circle of Eight Production Management partner McCuan to run for the entire year in Quarterly shows featuring Filipino designers at the Makati Shangri-La Lobby.
• “Exhibit A” February to August 2008 – Works of the 11 contemporary artists who have influenced the cultural scene of the country – among them: Budji Layug, Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr, Neal Oshima, Jun Paredes, and Ramon Villegas.
2009
• January 2009 – Received a Gold Medal in New York Festivals of the World’s Best Work in the news, documentary information and entertainment programming category of Biographies and Profile for “Inno Sotto: A Special Fashion Documentary.”
• September 2009 – Chosen as one of the three iconoclasts who best exemplify extraordinary passion and dedication in the pursuit of excellence in their respective professions.
• December 2009 – Chosen as one of People Asia’s People of the Year.
2010
• April 2010 – Presented a 60-piece collection in Guam, USA, for the benefit of the American Red Cross and University of Guam Endowment Fund.
• April 2010 – Artistic director and set designer for “Filipina, Bravo!” at the Greenbelt 5.
• November 2010 – 30th Anniversary Film and Theater Presentation at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
