In the bag

There’s more to Belgium than just chocolates and tennis superstar Kim Clijsters! This European nation is also renowned for producing Kipling, a women’s casual bag brand, which recently marked its 25th successful year in the global retail industry.

Manila celebrated this by holding an event at the Atrium of SM Mall of Asia. It featured an exhibit, games and a fashion show that showcased Kipling’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

Kipling’s regional sales manager for Asia Kocher Lau flew in from Hong Kong to grace the special event. Joining Lau in welcoming guests were Greyhound president and GM Benjamin Go, Ramon Go and chairman of the Go Gui Group of Companies Go Gui Ong. 

The brand presented a collection that included bags from the Basic, Basic Travel, Sweet Me, My Valentine, Vintage, Gorilla Girlz, City, City Business, 25 Years, Back to School and Working Life lines. 

Founded in 1987, Kipling was inspired by author of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling. Over the years, the brand has evolved beyond its original roots of providing high quality backpacks suited for the adventures of daily life into a distinctive, global brand that offers a range of carryalls for every lifestyle. Its iconic dangling monkey on the side of each bag can be seen all over the world.

A MissoniHome experience in Manila

Captivating hues highlighted the showroom launch of Acqua Livingstone — the fourth tower to rise at Acqua Private Residences. It is also the first residential building in the world whose interiors are designed by the Italian lifestyle brand MissoniHome.

The showroom at the Acqua Sales Center in Mandaluyong City started with a groundbreaking and press conference earlier in the day that culminated to a party in the evening.

Developed by real estate firm Century Properties Group, Inc., Acqua’s rainforest-infused aesthetic gave guests a full preview of how the 2.4-hectare residential development will look when completed: a lobby with a two-storey-high waterfall, an outdoor space, a boardwalk with tropical foliage and water streams, and the MissoniHome-designed spaces for Acqua Livingstone.

Century Properties managing director and Acqua project head Marco Antonio said, “Tonight we celebrate how Century Properties and MissoniHome share the same vision for Acqua and Acqua Livingstone. The design of Acqua is nature-infused, and if you look at the designs of MissoniHome, you will also see touches of nature in each of its creations. As we unveil the first and only residential project in the world interior-designed by MissoniHome, we hope that you will see with us the overall vision and concept of designer living in living design.”

Missoni shareholder and managing director Vittorio Missoni added, “We’ve done hotel projects before, but this is really our first design in real estate. When I met the Antonio brothers, I found them to be such fantastic people representing a fantastic company, and I knew that they would represent MissoniHome in the best way through this project.”

Even Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari commented in his speech, “I want to live in this residence!”

Guests were treated to cocktail concoctions by Cibo di M. After the short program, a fireworks display celebrated the partnership of Century Properties and MissoniHome.

DJ Nina Saputil kicked off the evening’s party with her music that kept the party going on until the morning.

(Visit www.acqua-livingstone.com or contact 818-9041or 0917-555-5274 for more information.)

Window of opportunity

There’s always a window of opportunity when one learns about global economic trends.

It was a strong show of commitment to being a knowledge leader in consumer insights when the MasterCard Economic Forum held “The Global Economy and Forging Philippines’ Economic Future” at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, MasterCard Worldwide global economic advisor, flew in from Canada for the occasion and shared his insights on the latest trends that drive global commerce and how these impact the Philippine economy.

Among those who attended the event were Aurelio Montinola III, Alfonso Salcedo, Natividad Alejo and Ginbee Go of BPI; Tessie Sy-Coson, Walter Wassmer, Jaime Yu and Ophie Camina of BDO Unibank; Joey Camus of Bank of Commerce; Jacqueline Fernandez of EastWest Bank; Jovencio Hernandez of Philippine National Bank; and Belen Lim of Security Bank. 

Yuwa underscored the need for the Philippines to “increase the efficiency of investments” and added that China has started relocating its manufacturing jobs to neighboring Asian countries due to high Chinese wages and dwindling labor force, and that the Philippines is in a “strong position” to capture part of the relocation. He also said that if the Philippines can convince China to relocate one percent of its 165 million manufacturing labor force here, the equivalent capacity, adjusted for productivity in the next five years, can generate four million new jobs in the manufacturing sector. “The strategic window of opportunity is open and there is no time to lose,” he said.

Yuwa commented that the Philippines will need to iron out a few bottlenecks in order to attain economic progress and that the country is, in fact, better primed to forge ahead because of its educated population.