As one of 12 FASHIONPhilippines designers at Milan Fashion Week, Jerome brings a 15-piece collection and a meditation on how language, material, and memory can be stitched into something at once subversive and soulful to Fondazione Sozzani.

This showcase is part of the FASHIONPhilippines Milan Mentorship Program. A project by Department of Trade and Industry – Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) collaboration with the Philippine Fashion Coalition, DOST PTRI, and Lit.fashion Consultancy, created to elevate Filipino talent on the international stage.

The story doesn’t end in Milan: these collections will return home to Manila FAME 2025 at the World Trade Center Philippines this October, a reminder that what we present to the world must also enrich our own ground.
Design For Tomorrow was asked to write the curator’s notes for Alembong, and lay out the collection’s accompanying literature. It was a privilege and a provocation to help frame Jerome’s vision at this milestone moment for Philippine design.

Alembong

Alembong. A word that, in its modern aftertaste, carries the sly curl of a lip: flirt, coquette, frivolous. Historically and anthropologically, before the weight of colonization and the catechism of virtue, it was something else: a shimmer in the air, the sparkle of a young Filipina’s wit, the quicksilver daring of laughter that refuses to bow. Alembong was ebullience itself, a feminine street-smartness that brightened the barangay.

The Spaniards, with their saints and sermons, found this sparkle too ungovernable. Under the gaze of Catholic morality, alembong was demoted to vice, its playful energy pressed into silence. Yet listen closely to the folk songs: Sitsiritsit with its teasing cadences, Paru-parong Bukid winging through fields, the lilting grace of Cariñosa, the unruly laughter of Waray-Waray, and the spirit persists. Each melody is a secret insurgency, an echo of alembong’s original freedom.

Jerome Lorico seizes this paradox. His Alembong Collection does not trade in coyness, but in reclamation. The garments, spun from piña, silk, cotton, and hybrid fibres, drape and unravel like wind skimming skin, never erotic for its own sake, but alive with ease, fire, and awakening. Like the tapis of old, they suggest both modesty and abandon, discipline and spontaneity.

In Milan, Alembong arrives not as nostalgia but as provocation: the lost feminine energy restored, the barrio lass and the city girl merged, water and fire in one body. What the Church once sought to tame, fashion here sets free.

Ric Gindap is the creative and strategy director of Design For Tomorrow, a top branding, strategy, and design agency based in Manila, Philippines. DFT is also registered in Singapore and collaborates with clients from Manila to Melbourne and Munich. Diverse projects have been completed from Bangkok to Berlin, and he has recently completed brand programs in Tokyo, Vienna, and Copenhagen.

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One such polymath is Jerome Lorico. He oscillates between fashion design, art, writing, mentoring, teaching, and, if you have access to his private account, social media-based punditry. His posts are lucid yet strongly-worded critiques on the state of mediocrity, railings on political abuses or injustices, and at times, pointed jabs at a decline of common sense—all stark contrasts to his generally shy, measured, and soft-spoken demeanor.

Jerome’s creative fluency cross-pollinates his writing and designing abilities. Pick up a piece of his garment, and it will be somehow apparent: His plot is a careful weaving of longing, imagination, and cultural references. Words are his fabrics, design his grammar, cut his syntax, and material manipulations and finishes his diacritics and punctuations. These combine into well-crafted pieces imbued with innovative details, cultural curiosities, and engaging narratives that make the clothes become wearable poetry.

LORICO, Jerome’s namesake brand, is the go-to fix for the confident, stylish, sharp, and fiercely loyal folks who embrace the designer’s maverick spirit, originality, and distinctive point of view. Fellow designers are openly vocal about their admiration for his talent, techniques, and authenticity. Yet it was a challenging, circuitous path before he reached this point of esteem.

ARTISTIC GESTATION

We harken back to a young boy in a handicraft factory in a small town in Albay.

“My earliest memory was actually sleeping on top of the boxes of handicrafts in Bicol,” he candidly reveals about his humble beginnings. “That’s when I actually started getting really fascinated with anything that’s created, anything that’s tactile because, at a very young age, I was exposed to the different materials.”

Growing up with meager means, he talks about having no access to the world of creativity, the pangs of jealousy for classmates with an expanded box of crayons, and walking up to school on top of a hill. The most ‘stylish’ event in the sleepy province is when people dress up for the kurodalan – the dance held in the plaza or a basketball court. He recounts his initial brush with the world of fashion through the colors and captions in his mother’s Avon catalogs. The most transformational awareness of fashion came one day courtesy of the television show F! (hosted by Cher Calvin, Angel Aquino, and Daphne Ocena). F! was instrumental for the young Jerome to discover the Philippine Fashion Design Competition.

“I remember vividly what really inspired me. It was FDCP’s Philippine Fashion Design Competition. Jojie Lloren won the FDCP grand prize and was sent to Paris to compete and won the grand prize there. That single news on a TV program inspired me because they mentioned that the materials Jojie used were wood beads. The corset was made of abaca, it was molded abaca, and abaca was very familiar to me.”

Jerome’s father disapproves of this fashion awakening and regularly shreds the young boy’s fashion drawings. This reduces Jerome to tears but does not discourage him. He goes on drawing and hides his designs. This flourishing creative inclination has an upside: Jerome wins local drawing and design competitions and uses the prize money to buy groceries that please his mother. Yet the kindled fashion sense kept secretly burning. He made a decision to excel in school. This will be his passport to Manila to pursue his dream to design. His early heartbreak was wanting to enroll in the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. However, they could not afford the bus fare to Manila, so he enrolled in Bicol University, where he majored in Communications Literature and graduated with honors.

Running away from home after graduation, with nothing in his arms but a cigarette box containing his clothes, a backpack, and a few crumpled hundreds in his pocket, he rode the bus to find a job in the capital city. He hand-carried his CV to notable designers’ ateliers and never heard from them again. Money is running out, so he decided to look for a corporate job. Eventually, he landed an interview on PLDT’s customer service floor and got the job, but later found out that a design competition was about to happen. After a day of orientation, he decided to quit and pursue the competition instead. It was a stressful time laced with self-doubts, but his gambit paid off. The sketch he sent became a national semi-finalist, an incredible achievement since he’s the only one who is not a fashion designer or has any background in fashion design.

He went home to Bicol to make his entry, but he didn’t have money to produce the garment, so he sent out letters to Municipal and provincial governments, only to be disappointed. He cried by the municipal hall stairwell after he was handed P50 for the fare to go home. He persisted, and eventually, a cooperative gave him bus tickets to Manila, but he is short of a couple of thousands more. Then one day, his mother handed him P1,500 to cover the rest of the expense. His father sold all his chickens to subsidize his son’s dream to compete.

CREATIVE CONQUESTS

All the initial struggles ended in failure as his entry was not chosen for the top prize. Yet the setbacks, losses, and heartbreaks are not deterrents for a determined, creative, and passionate dreamer.

Jerome eventually triumphs, winning many international competitions. Most notable were the ones in Japan (judged no less than the legendary Hanae Mori). With the winning prize money, he labored to finance his designs and collections. Eventually, his work was noticed, and he was invited to Singapore Fashion Week.

The Singapore show led a chain of events. During the after-party, he was approached to join London Fashion Week. He applied, was accepted, and later discovered that The Philippines had already endorsed Mich Dulce as an official delegate to the prestigious London show. Both of them went, but unlike the other invited country representatives, the two had no government support. They soldiered on despite the lack of resources. Having no money to present their collection in the Fashion Week venue, they showed their clothes in a couple of small rooms in the Philippine Embassy.

Jerome’s innovative knits and sculptural dresses got noticed, and he got encouraged by a fashion week attendee to send his CV to an unspecified brand. Intrigued, he followed suit. This resulted in two weeks of tense waiting, a return ticket to Manila about to expire, running out of money, sleeping on the couch, and doing household chores and errands for a benevolent friend who sheltered him while he waited for the result.

The anonymous brand turned out to be the revered Alexander McQueen.

If his competition triumphs in Japan made him aware of a different level of craft, creativity, and design, the McQueen experience gave him a window into a proper global brand’s inner workings. It refined his techniques, polished his point of view, and elevated his creative aspirations. He recalls how the interview was a nerve-wracking experience, gripped with fear, self-doubt, and a sinking feeling that he had let himself down. Eventually, his competitive nature and inner fighter kicked into high gear, and he managed to demonstrate his sense of determination, skill, and blossoming talent.

BRANCHING AS IT IS ROOTING

Returning to Manila, he established his brand, had a critical and commercial collaboration with directional denim brand VIKTOR, had successful fashion week presentations, and a runaway hit solo show. He later accepted fashion design advisory positions in the country’s top academic institutions like Mint College and DLSU-College of St. Benilde. He has proven his design chops and ability to build a brand, but something about his hometown cannot be untangled regardless of where or what he designs.

He feels that Albay and Bicol’s imprints are fertile bedrocks of inspiration and a sense of unshakeable longing.

“Even though I’ve been longing to be in the city for the longest time, deep inside my heart, I’ve always wanted to stay in a place like my province. To have quiet nights where you can hear crickets,” he wistfully declares. “Whenever I’m sad, back when I was young, I would just go to our rooftop, and I would stargaze. I would just look at the shadows of the mango trees growing on the hills. This is what my childhood was all about. If I was not a big dreamer, I wouldn’t be in the city. But at the same time, that dream was also founded with what was around me when I was young.”

“I believe that your origin is very important,” he adds. “Roots are very important because it is where you come from, and where you come from actually not just affects who you are right now, but it can actually determine where you’re heading. It’s impossible to actually erase the things you’ve been experiencing in the past. It’s essential to appreciate who you are right now because I believe that a person also changes. You evolve, that’s true, but it’s vital for people, not just creative people or people with dreams, any ordinary person, to actually really find who you are. And you can only find that out if you know and acknowledge your origin.”

Anyone attempting to condense Jerome’s accomplishments so far will struggle: how can you give justice to such prodigious talent, risk-taking feats, and compelling struggles in the confines of a thousand words?

He humbly admits that he is still evolving. If you care to listen closely, while he talks of pushing forward, the deep roots of his earliest years in Albay and Bicol find their way into the unhurried enunciations of his answers. It draws you to see the lateral branches that reach deeper into a visionary pool of memories and yearning. It’s down there that exceptional beauty springs from to blossom and capture imaginations everywhere.

Writer Ric Gindap
Photography All photos provided by Lorico Team
Date Published July 19, 2022

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Irene Maranan is an impressive force in the corporate world.

She doesn’t appear like your typical alpha female in a high-pressure environment, unaware and unadaptive. No, Irene is naturally communicative and carries herself with a calm confidence. Immediately, you know you’re in the presence of someone who knows what to do and someone who has a clear sense of where she wants to be. Several years back, Irene’s compass pointed toward Ayala.

So when Ayala came calling in 2015, she took the offer to form the corporate communications of a new business unit — and she took the reins of handling sustainability for AC Energy Corporation.

“If my role is purely communications or marketing, lagi ko s’yang hinahahaluan ng CSR work or sustainability. Even if it’s not my role. Because that’s my passion, to give back. I make sure I align whatever I do with sustainability, influencing the management.”

An Emerging Leader

Irene’s clarity about her professional life was different when she was studying Mass Communications at St. Scholastica’s College.

Back then, her dream was to enter advertising. But fate would have other plans because right after an internship at GMA Network, Irene joined a small PR firm. A few months after doing PR projects, she had an opportunity to work for Globe, an exciting time then because telecommunications industry was still in its infancy in the country with only a handful of players.

Her two years at Globe would shape her future career and senior place in the corporate world. Although Irene’s experience at the Ayala company was a positive first glimpse, she decided to take an incredible opportunity from Chevron.

At Chevron, Irene dove deep into the corporate world, learning the standards and processes of a multinational company for seven years. The lengthy stint would come to an end because Irene started to toy with the idea of running her business, of becoming her own boss. Like every innovative thinker, a change in her familiar routine was Irene’s way of also resolving another development in her life: a baby daughter needing her attention.

Irene recounts how the commute from work to home was brutal, making her miss crucial time with her first daughter.

“It wasn’t an easy decision . . . I took the risk.”

That risk came in the form of a PR and marketing firm she put up with a few other friends as partners. The thriving business would last for three years; the corporate world would come calling once again and Irene responded with open arms. This time, she found herself in the real estate industry — again, at an exciting time when commercial and residential development was booming. It is here where Irene got her start with working toward sustainability, and ever since it’s become her passion.

As AC Energy’s vice president and head of corporate communications and sustainability, it’s also become her goal.

“The sustainability here . . . is really embedding it into the process. We integrated sustainability into how we think and how we do business.”

Building an Energy Brand

And that sort of mindset for a commercial organization has delivered in terms of growth and revenue. The then-business unit has become a core Ayala company in just under ten years. AC Energy’s skyrocketing growth has led to its expansion within the Southeast Asia region, increasing its renewable energy assets and projects outside the country.

The now-listed energy platform (PSE: ACEN) of Ayala Group has also issued green bonds and is also more than halfway (~2,600 MW) through its primary goal of reaching 5000 megawatts by 2025.

“It’s only our tenth year . . . We’re able to grow the company this fast and achieve those goals. We have been contributing a lot in terms of bottom line. Becoming a core company of Ayala is really a big deal for us. We started as zero. In 2011, we had zero megawatts.”

Behind the swift upward trajectory is hard work, not just in laying the groundwork for building the energy portfolio but also in determining its place in the market: AC Energy’s branding.

The buy in from the top execs to the middle management and the rank and file was made easier, Irene says, because of Design for Tomorrow.

“They (did) our brand personality. They did the patterns, messaging, the layouts, and the look and feel. They’re really very creative in terms of integrating the energy types in our branding. Because when they developed our brand, they were able to bring out the sun patterns, the wind patterns, the thermal, and interpret them into branding.

“What they have developed for AC Energy really made us a strong brand. The standards and consistency, the creativity play, the type of energy we have.”

And this strong brand of AC Energy, poised to be the largest listed renewable platform in Southeast Asia, has bigger plans in its future besides scaling its renewable assets. With its sustainability communications in alignment with the Paris Agreement, AC Energy Corporation is also committed toward divesting its coal plants by 2030.

“. . . We believe in a carbon-free world future. That’s what I’m really aiming for — for AC Energy.”

Writer Jen Tagasa
Photography Chris Yuhico
Date Published February 04, 2022

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Buildings, residences, structures make up the fabric of a city. For trailblazing architects like Jason Buensalido, the art of building design isn’t just about the built environment. It’s also about culture.

But the application of that concept in the country f lies in the face of the Filipino’s reality.

“Why will people care about culture when they care about just looking for money, so they can buy food for the day? Since that’s majority of the Filipinos, the developers for that majority will also not care about ‘self-actualization’ ‘culture’ . . .”

In a third-world country, millions of people know zip about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, precisely for the reasons Jason illustrated. “That was the reason for me in putting up the firm; to contribute in a positive way to the development and the moving forward of our culture in a contemporary way; and to look for opportunities for new expressions of architecture.”

The Building Blocks

To honor the cultural nuances of the Philippines’ built environment has been at the forefront of Jason’s trade. His vocation, really. It held a powerful persuasion even while he was a student at the University of Santo Tomas, where he says his love for Philippine culture and architecture sprang. And where he and a few other students came up with the winning design for the Nayong Pilipino redesign competition in 2002. A first of many wins Jason would eventually receive years later.

The string of competitions, however, weren’t about nabbing the top prize. The goal wasn’t to edge out the competition, which were usually the biggest architectural firms in the country.

“Each competition that we were winning was to kind of to contribute to the development of culture — to the meaning of Philippine architecture.”

In 2006, when Jason put up Buensalido Architects, their competition entries were more frequent. Jason explains they had more time then because of few clients, as is the case for most startups. In 2009, they landed the top prize in the Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa for their green house, which featured a “secondary skin” future owners could personalize. Also in 2009, the team received a special nod from the Bahay Pinoy Bamboo Design Competition for innovation in their modern bamboo dwelling.

For Jason and his team, the competitions were about showcasing new ideas, pushing the conversation toward the Filipino identity in structural design. To see the country’s culture represented in the buildings and homes and cities that surround communities, the way Balinese culture and Hinduism are evident in every structure in Indonesia and the way intricate work and prominent domes and arches adorn buildings in Dubai.

The series of recognition from those competitions did more than highlight the near-absence of Filipino design in Philippine architecture. It also opened up opportunities for Buensalido Architects, allowing them to work on more projects.

So the “laboratory” of building design and construction grew. It has grown to a point where its principal architect and founder recognized the conflict between commerce and commitment.

“If you keep on saying ‘yes’ to clients who are not necessarily aligned to what you want to achieve, then you will attract the same kind of clients. . .  you will lose what you’re trying to achieve. So I started saying ‘no’ — even if that meant losing business and getting hungry.”

No Cookie Cutters

The innovative mind succeeds when the big risks are carefully considered — and then taken. In Jason’s case, he has two significant ones, so far.

One involved quitting a job at an architectural firm to focus on an entry for the CCP Design District Masterplan, which he and his team won, while still courting his now wife, architect Nikki-Boncan Buensalido, the firm’s design ambassador and VP. The other is saying “no” to big projects that didn’t match the Buensalido Architects mission.

The Law of Attraction worked for Jason, and Buensalido Architects began welcoming like-minded people; clients who were not just open to new ideas but also receptive to inventive solutions. After all, what is architecture if not solving problems.

And one of the biggest problems, where Maslow’s bottom tier is concerned, is shelter — housing that’s affordable but still attractive and absolutely responsive to its environment.

“We intentionally reach out to developers that do housing (low-cost, medium range), ‘cause we can make a maximum positive impact with developments like that. Because we’re talking about 1,000 homes and five people to a home; that’s 5,000 people to a project. . .  part of our mission is to also affect lives positively as much as we possible.”

Every project at Buensalido Architects marries the art and science of the craft; every architect spends time understanding the client, the environment to be built on, and the community that’s going to have a connection with the building or structure.

But sometimes, the client is in the dark.

Pushing the Boundaries

“Our job as designers is, really, to convert architecture into space; to manifest in architecture the values you already know, supposedly. And if you don’t know those values, then we can’t do that job for you. And then you’re always gonna say, ‘Ah, I don’t really feel what you designed for me.’ So I design something (else). ‘Hmmm, I don’t really feel what you designed for me.’ Then I have to change it. And then it’s a never ending thing because (the client) never defined their values or who they are collectively, from the start.”

When that happens, Buensalido Architects collaborates with another creative team: Design for Tomorrow.

“We work together well because I respect Ric and the value of what he does; and he understands the value of what we do also. We’re not just your cookie-cutter architect. If the project, which he just so happens to handle first, requires something out-of-the-box, that connects with identity in a more accurate way, then he calls on us.”

Jason has known Design for Tomorrow’s chief strategist and creative director since Buensalido Architects started, referring to Ric Gindap as one of his mentors. Since DFT’s founding, the two creative forces have worked on many projects.

Next year, that collaborative work will be manifested in Buensalido Architects’ branding and the upcoming monograph celebrating 15 years of B+A. Jason shares with the organization’s growth comes the need for further structure and a pivot away from attracting clients by “being loud” to developing a new identity while honoring their roots and building on the future.

The art and science of architecture thrives within this “laboratory,” where the experienced and the young forge ahead with concepts that push the craft. At the helm, Jason continues to inspire, compel, and drive his team to deliver awe-inspiring architecture that also represents the distinct identity of the Filipino–all key elements at the heart of Buensalido Architects’ branding.

—

A Selection of Buensalido+Architects x DFT Collaborations

(01) Paradigm Development – DFT provided a brand identity and design framework which was translated by B+A

(02) Altea – DFT challenged B+A to modernize the local building vocabularies of Bulacan for a well-curated retail destination.

(03) Degan Towers – B+A and DFT collaborated for the identity of a legacy development project in Mandaluyong City.

(04) Genea Gardens – DFT articulated the vision of the project and B+A developed an architectural framework that can be personalized and reflective of the spirit of the brand.

(05) Convention Center – A landmark project in Western Visayas where DFT and B+A cross pollinated branding/identity environments, spatial design, and experiences.

(06) DFT provided an experiential framework and a manifesto reflecting the use of corporate and commercial spaces founded on interaction, empathy, well being, and civic pride. B+A translated this into architecture, interior design, and sustainability features.

Writer Jen Tagasa
Photography and Concept Images Buensalido+Architects Team
Date Published October 22, 2021

The post Buensalido+Architects Branding appeared first on Design For Tomorrow.

From Buildings to Bodies

Jaq Molloy, or Coach Jaq to her clients, didn’t start out in the massive fitness industry. She worked in another massive industry that involved construction of government buildings, fitouts, and refurbishment of commercial buildings.

In her “previous life,” the mother of two lovely girls was a project manager. A very successful one.

Jaq would handle public and private sector projects, work with clients, designers, stakeholders, and contractors; she would write proposals, negotiate fees, coach and mentor junior staff, source fitouts and relocation for clients, and identify and resolve day-to-day issues with projects. From beginning to the end, Jaq would see every project through. And yes, it was all terribly stressful.

Any other person would be wiped out by the end of the day — or according to science, by 2 to 3 PM.

Not Jaq.

She didn’t bleed out energy nor intention between meetings and site visits and paperwork. Like all high-performers, Jaq sustained energy that allowed her to deal with the demands of her career as a project manager.

“I was always active . . . I figure skated when I was little, and as an 11-year-old, I was part of the school badminton team representing our school at inter-school competitions. I ran regularly while living in Sydney and often participated in fun run events. Strength Training was also something to help me deal with the stressful nature of my job as a project manager. I was always athletic and into fitness before turning it into a profession.”

“Just Jaq”

The transition from the frenetic whirr of a corporate existence to the balanced hum of a free agent made sense, in the very least. At the most, it became a necessity for Jaq Molloy to make a change.

“I wanted a career that will ignite the fire in my belly and allow me to manage my own time. I have always been . . . thirsty for more knowledge around health and fitness. Not only that, I genuinely want to share my knowledge and help others who find that they need assistance in achieving their health and fitness goals.”

It is the stuff of dreams; leaving the corporate life to become your own boss.

To no longer sit hours on the road but stride in seconds to get to work; the bed to screen commute.

But as a stay-at-home parent with two kids, Jaq’s journey to her lifelong passion was by no means easy. She had to go back to school. She had to take her certification exam. Then she had to get a job at a studio. At Orange Theory Fitness, Jaq absorbed everything as a group class fitness instructor, learning from other coaches, observing each person’s biomechanics and limitations, and developing the confidence to take on private clients.

Coach Jaq may have gotten the skill part of her life’s calling down pat, but the accomplished professional still had to wrestle with some demons; that nagging feeling everyone has tussled with at some point in their life: self-doubt.

“I was too afraid to charge someone for my knowledge in the beginning. Even though it was market rate, I was always worried that no one would pay me and they would think I am a fraud, despite the fact that I know a lot about it and it is worth every cent I charge.”

Jaq overcame the uncertainty, gaining clients as word-of-mouth spread about her positive, personalized, and practical approach to fitness. And she took on more clients who sought the kind of motivation and results Just Jaq delivered.

Challenging Yet Life Changing

Much of the success Just Jaq Fit has acquired amid the economic hurdles of a global pandemic can be credited to its founder’s fitness philosophy. Jaq explains that physical appearance and strength aren’t the only elements behind fitness.

“It is as much of a mental game as it is a physical challenge. The overall performance, when you take into consideration these points, makes you a stronger person and eventually a better version of yourself.”

That mental game intensifies with clients who may not have enough inclination to go on a 5K run every morning or take 45 minutes for some type of resistance training in the day. Coach Jaq recognizes this push and pull battle with people who aren’t “exercise persons.”

How do you get a slightly non-committal, non-exercise person to get on a program?

Jaq keeps it light, with easy-to-do exercises and slowly builds the intensity as the client starts to get used to the routine. To motivate them, she keeps every session fun, engaging, and social.

“It is challenging to change your mindset, but so refreshing to learn something new. If nothing is changed nothing changes.”

Just Jaq Fit’s branding itself has gone through a bit of a change as it gains footing in the fitness market. Coach Jaq credits a major change, a milestone of her brand, to Design for Tomorrow / One Triple Four. The boutique agencies handle branding of her business.

“(DFT/1444) formalized my passion in fitness into a profession.”

Yes, the business may have started right around a crisis. But the concept had been brewing long before; that fire in Jaq’s belly and all that.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and Jaq Molloy’s need to share what she knew about fitness and health, the desire to own her time and spend more of it with her family, compelled her to develop Just Jaq Fit’s branding. Centered on three simple words that could mean big life changes for many of her clients.

Just Jaq Fit is a Singapore-based coaching brand by Coach Jaq Molloy. This project was realized through close collaboration with our Singapore partner, One Triple Four.

Writer Jen Tagasa
Photographer (Portrait) JustJaqFit Team
Project Director Joan Leong @ One Triple Four
Date Published August 13, 2021

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The Kind That Prevents

In Dresden International University, Dr. Reyes studied preventive and regenerative medicine, earning her master’s degree and making her one of few Filipino doctors with an internationally-accredited degree in clinical medicine with a focus on a concept called “well-aging.”

Although the doctor already has a few other credentials under her belt, the preventive and regenerative medicine degree allows her to further realize her ideas about treating the skin beyond what’s traditional. Yes, the creams and the gels help you look your best. But no luxury skin care product is going to do miracles if something else is bubbling beneath the skin, and several external factors may be at play.

Dr. Reyes says, “People think that dermatology and medical aesthetics are only skin deep, but honestly it’s interconnected, and the sciences are intertwined.”

At the core of Dr. Reyes’ Luminisce, a skin care and laser institute she built in 2012, is the internationally-trained dermatologist’s belief that skin treatments need a holistic approach. Dr. Reyes took hold of this idea while working with then Health Secretary Jaime Galvez Tan. She saw the complementing effects of traditional medicine and evidence-based medicine.

“When I was working in integrative medicine in PGH, I was exposed to lots of people who have skin conditions . . . (I got to see) integrative medicine for acupuncture, herbal medicine and homeopathy.  I realized that inflammation in the body always shows in the skin of the patient — no matter the diagnosis,” Dr. Reyes recounts.

After seeing how the two approaches to medicine gave way to the overall health of patients, Dr. Reyes realized it was this precise type of medicine she wanted to practice; that this was her future in medicine.

Well Aging, Not Anti-Aging

“You cannot prevent aging . . .” Dr. Reyes says, explaining the concept of “well aging” and adding it’s about being mindful of lifestyle. It’s about healthy aging, aging gracefully — see the pattern here. The bottom line is no one can control age. It is an inevitable stage where you can only slow down by making smart choices.

An advocate of smart choices: that’s the core of Luminisce and it’s branding.

Since it opened in 2012, Luminisce has flourished with its holistic approach, focusing on how clients can live happier, healthier lives in the long-term and looking good in the process. Dr. Reyes helps her patients achieve these things through tailor-fit treatments, which typically involve digging into the patient’s medical history, lifestyles, and goals.

The clinic, with its long list of loyal clients and glowing reviews, has become the premiere destination for aesthetic dermatology. A consultation with Dr. Reyes or with her practice’s doctors is more of a collaboration with the patient instead of a typical “here’s what you need to do” discussion with a healthcare professional. Patients are never pushed with products or treatments they’re not going to need.

Along with aesthetic treatments and cosmeceutical solutions, patients can expect innovative approaches to skin and body concerns. And right now, Luminisce is focusing on product formulations, preventive medicine, and neutraceuticals.

Dr. Kaycee Reyes’ days may not be as dizzying as before Covid-19 hit, but she’s still pretty active.

The moment she wakes up, the married doctor with two young kids does some kind of fitness routine (a 6 AM run or 45-minute resistance training) and then meditates for 20 minutes (if she has the time) or 5 minutes (if she has less). She then takes a moment to pray and offer her sense of gratitude and then proceeds to do her usual breakfast routine with the family. At the clinic, Dr. Reyes would see her patients, which were typically 25 before the pandemic and now four to five. Lunch is usually at the clinic, where she does more work and a meeting with her operations team.

Dr. Kaycee Reyes now knows how to head off another burnout. Her days are still filled but not mobbed and no longer unmanageable. Partly because she’s got science on her side and mostly because her creativity has found a collaborator in Design for Tomorrow for Luminisce’s branding.

“I love working with DFT because they’re dynamic. Hindi s’ya boring, parang cool; you can actually make yourself to a different thing if you want to,” gushes Dr. Reyes who adds that every project with the agency is enjoyable.

And Dr. Reyes isn’t finished creating, planning for Luminisce.

“I have so many ideas,” she says. “Sometimes I’m restless. I never stop to be a dreamer.”

Writer Jen Tagasa
Photographer (Product) Jar Concengco, Luminisce Team (Portrait) Luminisce Team
Date Published July 30, 2021

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