Criselda Lontok - Forever Fashionable

CEBU, Philippines - The cliché about fashion is, it comes and goes. But we wonder how come some names became mainstays, simply remaining timeless?

One such name is Criselda Lontok – a name that can only be mentioned and brought up with much reverence, not only among those who wear her classic designs, but also among noted fashion designers.

Recently in celebrating her birthday, with a 60-piece holiday collection fashion presentation at The Gallery of Rustan’s, the gracious and lovely lady has supremely lorded it over the many walk-in closets and dressing suites of several women of substance who have proudly donned her ready-to-wear outfits, exclusively displayed in class-A shopping space in the country’s most sterling department store.

The strictly-by-invitation affair was an opportune time for a bit of nostalgia where friends from way-back-when and loyal clients who soon have become friends as well, reminisce the Criselda as an ingénue model of Pitoy Moreno, Ben Farrales and Aureo Alonzo in mega fundraising shows such as Fashion on Wings, an extravaganza in 10 cities; the Criselda as a favorite cover girl of top rated ladies publications most specially Luisa Linsangan’s ever-so popular Weekly Women’s Magazine; the Criselda as the designer with beginnings as a Merchandizing Manager and later taken under Glecy Tantoco’s wing, as a kind of precocious protégé. Criselda’s flair was absolutely apparent to the Tantoco matriarch’s expert eyes, keen on discovering the next fashion icon, the Criselda as … and the civilized chatter went on and on.

If you think her background alone is filled with luminaries, wait till you find out the names of the people whom she has had the pleasure of dressing up – Imelda Cojuangco, Bea Zobel, Cristina Ponce Enrile, Menchu Concepcion, Ching Montinola, Lorna Laurel, Remy Arguellles, Elenita Binay… as it is, the list is incredibly long enough by any measure. And her prestigious clientele continues to grow.

With over three decades clothing women, aged 30 to 80 in bright colors – and this is something she is very much known for, designing clothes that are unabashedly bright. She leaps over the challenge of maintaining a brand that’s as high-profile as she is and such maintenance, according to her, is in fact more difficult than starting a new brand altogether.

But Criselda Lontok, is not just the sum of the many personalities – make that celebrities – she has dressed up. She herself is a luminary, shining not only in the racks and closets that have been privileged with the presence of her designs, but in the fashion industry itself. Her determined hard work and for lack of a better word, idiosyncratic sense of style, have allowed her to do more that simply stay in the highly competitive, highly driven, intense game.

Today she continues to hold up the torch that illuminates the path for younger striving designers, very keen as much as she is, to make a contribution to Philippine fashion.

Enhorabuena, Criselda!

As in past shows, Criselda herself chooses a different beneficiary to whom donations received during the event are channeled to. For the most recent one, her choice was to support the many worthwhile projects of UNICEF for abandoned and malnourished children all over the world.

Bless you, Criselda.