Ka-Vogue!
365 days in, ‘Vogue Philippines’ has not only rejuvenated print publishing but also amplified our collective Filipino creative voice.
Vogue was too big a title when it entered the Philippine market last year. And that was where it drew its strength.
“We imagined our magazine would be a collectible as it chronicles the Philippine voice in a relevant global context,” says editor in chief Bea Valdes. “But we realize the scope and scale of our work isn’t confined to the printed page alone.”
They put the 106-year-old mambabatok Apo Maria “Whang-Od” Oggay, an unconventional “cover girl” choice otherwise difficult to reach from the mountains of Buscalan, on the cover of its beauty issue — starting conversations about age, inclusivity, and redefining conventions throughout over 43 million global impressions and over 80 pickups from news outlets around the world.
In its first 365 days, Vogue Philippines made history. Vogue captured content creator Bretman Rock in motion for their first pride issue. Award-winning artist H.E.R. became the first international artist on Vogue Philippines’ cover.
The pages edited by Joyce Oreña for beauty, fashion by Pam Quiñones and Daryl Chang, features by Audrey Carpio, managed by Jacs Sampayan and its digital counterpart by Trina Epilepsia Boutain and Andrea Ang, drew eyes to undiscovered, emerging Filipino ingenuity across the archipelago.
Valdes goes on to quote the art critic, curator, and August issue subject Marion Pastor Roces: “We have used fashion not as a noun but articulated as a word of action. To ‘fashion’ — to create.”
The room Valdes addresses at the Vogue Ball this week is proof: global Filipino creatives in the realms of fashion, beauty, art, business, and entertainment — and no one is wearing anything brand-new. They’re all either re-wearing or have reworked pieces they already own.
Downstairs is a series of collaborations between fashion designers, visual artists, and artisans to imagine the possibilities of how we can upcycle and hack our future fashion systems.
And the best is yet to come. Fronting the whopping 480-page September issue on the cover are model, photographer, and designer Jo Ann Bitagcol, designer and model Lukresia “ThirdworldBB” Quismundo, and model Rina Fukushi — three figures blurring the lines between artist and muse photographed in sustainably made fashion taking in that edge-of-the-world feeling from the rolling hills of Batanes.
“We have embraced the challenge of building a global ethos,” says COO and publisher at Vogue Philippines Rhoda Campos-Aldanese. “This mindset compels us to make choices that prioritize the wellbeing of both people and our planet. Through our storytelling, we hope to inspire our readers to live up our values of inclusivity, diversity, sustainability, love, compassion, and helping the less fortunate.”
