A love affair

For 19 years, Antonio “Jan” Garcia lived in the US West Coast area. He studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in LA where he graduated summa cum laude. He proceeded to open a design studio where he concentrated on bridal and evening gowns in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Garcia also returned to his FIDM alma mater as a member of its faculty. A winner of Vidal Sassoon’s Fashion Award in 1997, Air France International Design Competition, Hispanic Designer Awards and first place winner of Recontre de Suisse de Jeune Talent, his American life was running smoothly until an aunt asked him to decorate her home in the Philippines. What started out as a two-week visit turned out to be a love affair with Manila. Jan had such a heartfelt reception from all his model colleagues — Tweety de Leon, Apples Aberin, Patti Bettita among others — that he decided to stay.

“I still have to go back to the States twice a year to fulfill my design obligations,” Jan explains. “But I love it here in Manila. I realized how much I missed my friends and how we Filipinos are warm and personal.”