Nina Garcia on style, beauty, and making it big in the fashion industry

Every Pinoy fashionista knows her as one of the mainstays on the hit show Project Runway, together with Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, and Tim Gunn. But at first, magazine editor Nina Garcia didn't think anyone would be interested in the show. “Who’s going to really care about this?” she recalled her earlier thoughts. “I was so wrong… it was the perfect storm.”

On her first visit to Manila last week, Nina acknowledged the impact that the show had in creating a new interest in and appreciation for fashion. She was the guest last Friday, May 24, on day three of Philippine Fashion Week where she inspired the audience during her appearance at JAG Origins, a style forum hosted by the denim label.

Television host Boy Abunda introduced her as “one of the most formidable names in the global fashion industry,” and sat down with Ms. Garcia to discuss matters of style and career.

“We didn’t have many resources,” said Nina as she talked about growing up in her native Colombia, where her love for fashion started.

"There are many things in Manila that remind me of home. First of all, the warmth of the people. So hospitable, so open, so curious, so engaging, and so generous. Secondly, family... and the weather," she noted.

Breathing the air of fashion

"The idea of fashion for me was really being a designer. I didn't know that there's really so many parts of this business that are fashion-related, and you don't necessarily need to be a designer," she says of her early years in the industry. Nina soon realized that people can get involved in fashion as a designer, a stylist, a model, or in media, entertainment, or publications.

Internships are a “phenomenal way to network” and learn about what you like to do, she said. Nina herself did many an internship, which involved menial tasks like zipping and unzipping garment bags and going on the preliminary coffee run.

“I just wanted to breathe the air of fashion,” said Nina.

She advises anyone interested in fashion to know a lot about culture, because so much of fashion is influenced by art. Additionally, she notes that success in fashion means staying focused, being very passionate, and being “authentic to yourself.”

For aspiring designers, the business side of things is integral, she says. “It’s really art and commerce,” Nina said. “Sometimes people think, well, fashion is so… surface. Being a designer is so easy – it’s not. It’s a serious business, it’s a billion-dollar business, and it’s a business that gives jobs to many, many people.”

She adds, “The industry is changing so much. It is so exciting to be living in this moment, really changing the way we buy, changing how we consume information, changing the way we manufacture clothes.”

Style and beauty

When asked what her go-to outfit is, Nina laughed and said, “when I’m not running around after a three-year-old and a six-year-old?” She wears jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers, Nina reveals. Now who would have thought that even this fashion guru dresses down like the rest of us?

Nina is reluctant to answer when asked about her idea of the most stylish woman, saying “that’s a very hard question.” However, she did cite several women in fashion and art who have “very distinct points of view” like Coco Chanel, Kate Moss, Diana Vreeland, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Frieda Kahlo.

“Style has nothing to do with beauty,” asserts Nina. “Beauty is overrated, I promise you it is,” she added. Nina says she’d rather be stylish than beautiful (although I would argue that she is both).

When asked what she thinks about bloggers, Nina laughed and said “competition is good.” She adds, “I appreciate what they do, I like them, I follow them. It’s a different perspective, it’s very much about them [but] it’s wonderful to watch.”

As the creative director of Marie Claire magazine, she said, “We offer a different kind of service.” While most blogs are made from a very personal point of view, magazines are put together “for many women, with very different needs.”

On Filipino designers

In the global fashion scene, Nina observes, “Obviously Asia is a very huge market. They have a very interesting aesthetic.” She says the fact that some Filipino designers have made it big internationally like Josie Natori and Monique Lhuillier “speaks volumes about the talent in this country.”

Nina applauded the works of local designers Norman Noriega, Jeffrey Rogador, and Jerome Salaya Ang who each designed capsule collections for JAG's Holiday 2013 show.



The collection featured ankle cut pants for women and stretch denim for men. A rudimentary palette of deep blues, grays and blacks complemented the casual-yet-edgy feel of the pieces, which included sexy leatherette leggings, sweet denim crop tops and even a pair of rugged over-alls with a skinny jean twist.

Norman Noriega’s collection featured elegant maxi dresses in black, white and bold red, while Jeffrey Rogador put out contrastingly rigid, structured pieces made of denim with wild print details. Jerome Salaya Ang’s oriental beaded creations in gold and black offset the denim theme nicely.

With the success of its first style forum, JAG plans to continue hosting the event every year featuring other globally renowned creative minds. The denim label will also be holding a design competition next year, which is no surprise for Nina Garcia, who asserts, “the creative minds are here.” – YA, GMA News


Photos by JICA LAPEÑA and JAG collection