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2008 Awardees
Oliver Tolentino
Couturier
A designer who started his career in Manila in the late 90s, Oliver Tolentino has quietly risen to the top of Asia’s A-list designers. He has secured a place in his native country by designing gowns for the elite, including socialites, celebrities, and government officials at the highest levels. His recent creation was a gown for former First Lady Imelda Marcos for her 79th birthday party.
Oliver has created dramatic gowns for the Philippines’ biggest concert stars -- all of the gowns for Lani Misalucha’s recent States tour were by Oliver -- and Philippine celebrity Tessa Prieto-Valdes is a big fan for her more formal attire.
In the past decade, Oliver has attracted not only the attention of Manila's fashionable set, but also America's. He recently designed a dress for the fiancée of rocker Joe Walsh of the legendary Eagles to wear to a Grammys event In Los Angeles, and he’s held trunk shows in L.A., Las Vegas, and New York. The Celebrity Chronicle awarded him its “Outstanding Professional in the Field of Fashion Design” at its Achievement Awards night in Glendale, California, July 2008.
Internationally, Oliver represented the Philippines in Indonesia for Bali Fashion Week 2008, where he won first-prize for a Carnivale parade outfit (voted by the attending press photographers), and his collection was chosen as the finale for the last night’s evening couture show.
As a designer, Oliver gives each of his clients personalized attention by taking into account their body type and coloring when coming up with a design and fabric suggestion. His attention follows all the way through to whatever may be the client’s big event.
This personalized service explains why his clients are very loyal to him. It’s not rare for Oliver to have done all of the weddings in a family or to have decade-long clients, or basically those who have been going to him since when he began making dresses in fashion school.
Oliver's forward-thinking design philosophy, bolstered by additional training in the U.S. in the finer points of couture, has him tagged as one of the young designers to watch.
