Ariel Lozada is a firm and influential figure in producing and directing fashion shows. His directorial resume includes the best fashion figures in the Philippines. Lozada believes that there is a need to nurture young designers and encourage those who want to get into the field of fashion. Being known as the director of the behemoth shows of Bench, his services were also tapped by the European Chamber of Commerce, Garments and Textiles Export Board, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, and the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines. At present, he continues to do overseas projects in Singapore, Shanghai, and Dubai.

Pidge Reyes is a sculptor, mosaic artist and product designer, with two decades of experience as planner and developer of garments and fabric-related products. Past clients include Russ Berrie Toys, Walker underwear, Everlast Sportswear.

He is also a teacher who specializes in garment cinstruction, creative sewing, and hat making.

He has exhibited his artworks at several venues, including the Philippine Art Fair in 2014. His sculptures are private commissions by multinational companies and individuals.

Reyes has a B.S. Clothing Technology degree from the University of the Philippines.

Jackie Aquino is among the most respected and experienced fashion show and events director in the country, with a splendid 25-year career.

His JCA Productions has been behind some of the most memorable events—from fashion shows to product launches, concerts and corporate productions—including the MetroWear fashion series and Inquirer Lifestyle Face-Off.

He has staged shows not only around the country but also abroad.

Among his first-rate clients are Hermes, Gucci, Bulgari, Samsung, Ayala Malls, Philippine Airlines and The Peninsula Manila.

Aquino majored in literature at De La Salle University, Manila.

James Reyes’ remarkable career chased a rather circuitous route. First, he was an award-winning ad agency art director at Campaigns and Grey. Then, he took a sharp left, and enrolled at Slim’s Fashion and Art School to become a fashion designer. Lately, he is busy in the world of theater, designing costumes for local productions and musicals.

As a fashion designer, his style is rooted in the fine arts. His shapes are often architectural and geometric. There’s always a clever twist to his garments.

A former president of the Young Designers Guild, he was also a finalist in the Young Designers Competition in 2002,and presented his design in Paris, France.

Reyes is a graduate of the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts.

Raymond Paderna is a university professor and lecturer whose areas of expertise are Business Research, Global Management, Sustainable Business, Family Business Management, and Human Resource Management.

He is skilled in the management of family-owned enterprises, having run the human resources, finance, and purchasing divisions of his family’s business (tool-and-die, metal fabrication, travel and tourism, and manufacturing).

Paderna teaches at his alma mater, De La Salle University, Manila, where he finished B.S. Commerce major in Business Management. He earned his MBA major in International Management from European University in Montreux, Switzerland.

Jo Ann Bitagcol is a sought-after model who has made the successful switch to fashion photography, eveb as she still does the occasional walk for the shows of her designer friends.

Discovered at a panciteria in Bulacan in 1996, she would go on to become a runway darling, her distinct oriental looks and lithe form gracing the pages of many glossies.

She later developed an interest in photography and, in 2004, enrolled in a basic course at the University of the Philippines.

She would also apprentice with some of the country’s eminent photographers. Being a model has its perks, as she would also pick up techniques from said photographers as she preened in front of their lenses.

Bitagcol photographs celebrities, and corporate clients, and has exhibited her photography in various venues, including a collaboration with Jojie Lloren at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2015.

She recently directed her first fashion show.

Photo Credit: FHM.com.ph

Joey Samson is a fashion designer known for his minimalist and distinctly androgynous aesthetics and deconstructed forms. His avant-garde sensibility combined with his razor-sharp tailoring makes his style unique and a standout in his generation of Filipino designers.

A finalist at the 2000 Young Designers Competition, which allowed him to present his work in Paris, France, Samson has been making garments professionally for 15 years.

He was a featured designer of the 2017 Red Charity Gala.

He has also designed capsule collections for various brands , like Human and Regatta.

Before enrolling at Slim’s Fashion and Arts School, Samson graduated B.S. Biology at De La Salle University, Dasmarinas.

Rita Nazareno is the creative director of Zacarias 1925. She was an Emmy Award-winning producer in Los Angeles, California when duty called and she returned home to help run the family business: S.C Vizcarra, which makes hand-woven bags often gifted to royalty. Her grandfather started it in 1925.

Zacarias 1925, the brand Nazareno later founded and named for her grandfather, is S.C. Vizcarra’s modern and contemporary sister. Zacarias 1925 makes bags and home accessories, and has shown at Maison et Objet Paris, Pitti Firenze, Super Milan, and Salone et Mobile.

Both of Nazareno’s brands champion the traditional Filipino craft of hand weaving.

Nazareno took her master’s in Design Management at the London College of Fashion.

Jojie Lloren, known for his minimalist style and exemplary tailoring, is the favored designer of many of the country’s most stylish women.

His fashion career was set in motion when he won the Philippine Young Designers Competition in 1998. That same year, he also won the Concours International des Jeunes Createur de Mode in Paris, France, for which he received a scholarship to the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. In 2007, Mega Fashion Awards named him Best Couture Fashion Designer.

Lloren was the featured designer of the 2014 Red Charity Gala. The following year, his Red Charity Gala collection was exhibited at the Cultural center of the Philippines, the first show of its kind in the institution.

A former president of the Young Designers Guild and the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines,he was a mentor on Project Runway Philippines. Apart from a stellar couture clientele, his remarkable career also includes stints in ready-to-wear. He designs Jill, an in-house brand of Rustan’s Department Store.

Lloren is a B.S. Clothing Technology graduate of the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

Fashion stylist Noel Manapat is the man responsible for the images on Bench billboards and ads. A graduate of Commercial Art from Ateneo, he got into the trade when he was editing a magazine and styling its shoots when Bench hired him to style one of its ads. And the rest they say is history. He uses experiences he obtained from his previous work in advertising and publishing as copywriter and editor-in-chief. As a freelance stylist, his clients include celebrities (like KC Concepcion and Dingdong Dantes), major television networks, top fashion designers, and of course Bench.

Noel Manapat is also the favorite fashion stylist of the Red Charity Gala.

Reference: Philippine Daily Inquirer | Scribd