The best of both worlds

Nokia recently launched the very first co-branded credit card in Asia, the Nokia Standard Chartered Bank Card. “Nokia is proud to have forged a partnership with a stable and prestigious establishment as Standard Chartered Bank,” says William Hamilton-Whyte, Nokia Philippines GM. “With the new card, you can enjoy the best of both worlds — enjoyment through our mobile phones and convenience that the credit card offers.”

Seen at the event were the Nokia team led by its GM William Hamilton-Whyte accompanied by Angelique Repapis and Nokia head of marketing Sandeep Khanna.

Also present were Standard Chartered county head of consumer banking Simon Yuen, Standard Chartered GM-credit cards and personal loans Supratim Pandey, Standard Chartered head of credit cards marketing Corinne Go-Astillero and Standard Chartered head of credit cards usage Raffy Simpao, Rupert and Tina Jacinto, Miguel Rosales, RJ and Vanessa Ledesma, Sari Yap, Anna Sobrepeña, Katrina Holigores, Anton San Diego, Tisha Silang and Geoff Rodriguez.

The card’s key features include cash rebate on prepaid load, cash rebate on postpaid mobile phone bills, cash rebate on all other transactions as well as exclusive discounts, and special interest rate on installment deals on purchasing Nokia phones, which are packed with features such as a multi-megapixel camera, built in music player, WiFi and e-mail capabilities, GPS, and immense internal memory.

The mane event

For its 10th anniversary in the Philippines, Franck Provost Manila unveiled its latest salon, the Franck Provost Studio, at the Net Quad Building in Fort Bonifacio Global City. The latest addition to the Franck Provost line, the FP Studio will specialize in color, catering to anyone in search of a great hairstyle using color as a statement.

French stylist Laurent Hebert who has been with Franck Provost Manila for the last three years says: “The Color Bar concept that we have created here at the Studio is truly unique. Here, a customer is able to be a part of the whole coloring process. She gets to see exactly what goes into her hair and has a say every step of the way.”

The event hosted by Tessa Prieto Valdes was attended by Franck Provost himself together with his president and COO Mark Aublet. The affinity that the world-renowned hair expert has for the Philippines and the Filipinos was undoubtedly brought about by franchise holders Baby Cruz and Ising Vasquez, who brought the franchise here in 1998.

The elaborate ribbon-cutting ceremony had the ribbons cleverly tied to the hair of models. Guests of honor included former First Lady Imelda Marcos, first lady of Taguig Kaye Tinga and Jacques Dupasquier.

Shoes and Solenn

L Manila is an extension of Lulu Tan-Gan’s Tan-Gan label. L Manila’s unique style of home-grown innovation puts a modern and hip flair to Filipino fashion. It offers fashion apparel from Tan-Gan’s limited edition knit and piña, and creations from Puey Quinones, Danilo Franco, Barge Ramos, Oj Hofer, Louie Claparols and fashion accessories from Capulla and Campos.

Its recent addition to the designer’s selection is Filipina-French Solenn Heussaff who is a makeup artist (for Make Up For Ever) and assistant designer to Tan-Gan Limited Edition. She can now add the title of a shoe designer to her credentials since she has always enjoyed sketching shoes and trying on her mother’s shoes when she was very young. The self-confessed shoe addict took up fashion design and now has her Greek goddess-inspired shoe collection.

(Check them out in L Manila at the second floor of Greenbelt 5, Ayala Malls, Makati.)