Top 100 Cebuano Personalities - Monique Lhuillier

CEBU, Philippines — She is the first Cebuana fashion designer to break into the international fashion scene in a big way. Monique Lhuillier is known for her bridal, ready-to-wear and lifestyle brand. Having since relocated to the United States, she is internationally recognized as one of America’s foremost designers.

Monique Lhuillier has established fashion houses in Los Angeles, California, where she primarily works and lives, as well as in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and New York. She opened her first retail store in 2001. In 2004 she drew wide notice for her wedding dresses for Britney Spears and Emmy Awards dresses for Jamie-Lynn DiScala and Allison Janney, among others.

Her brand has become especially known for her celebrity wedding and red carpet gowns, with a list of clientele that includes Blake Lively, Demi Lovato, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Obama, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Melania Trump, and Katy Perry.

In 2003, the Council of Fashion Designers of America invited her to be a member. In 2006, Monique Lhuillier was given the Presidential Medal of Merit by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In 2017, she won Best Bridal Fashion Show at the Elle International Bridal Awards. In December last year, she was one of the judges in the 2018 Miss Universe pageant.

Monique grew up in Cebu City and studied at Saint Theresa’s College, continuing on to the Chateau Mont-Choisi finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a design course at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. Her parents remain in Cebu – French-born Filipino businessman Michel Lhuillier and society figure and former model Amparito Llamas.  (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org)