Accessories designer Bea Valdes will lead Vogue Philippines new editorial team when the new title launches in September. She will be joined by Pam Quiñones as fashion director, Trina Epilepsia Boutain as digital editor and Rhoda Campos-Aldanese as publisher of the title.
Vogue Philippines marks a further push for the Vogue franchise into the Southeast Asia region. It will be the third local edition of the magazine after Vogue Thailand and Vogue Singapore and will be published in English by Condé Nast partner Mega Global Licensing Inc., (MGLI), a local publishing house with over 30 years of experience in the prestige publishing market.
“We have appointed individuals who each share the same purpose of Vogue Philippines, which is to uplift Philippine fashion and discover emerging talents who will shape the future of the industry,” said Archie Carrasco, chairman and chief executive of MGLI.
As an accessories designer that has put Filipino artisanship at the centre of her brand ethos since its launch in 2004, Valdes is a mainstay of the country’s fashion firmament, but is still seen as an unconventional choice due to her lack of editorial experience.
“My vision for Vogue Philippines is to lead the industry with purpose, leaning into our Filipino values of optimism, bayanihan (a local term referring to civic unity and cooperation among Filipinos) and empathy [so that] through our stories, we celebrate craft and creativity, empowering our community and urging our Filipino culture forward,” said Valdes.
The introduction of Vogue Philippines comes comes at a time of global evolution for the Vogue brand. In December 2020, publisher Condé Nast announced a major editorial restructuring that consolidated power in the hands of American Vogue editor Anna Wintour and the year since has seen a number of long-time editors-in-chief of international titles leave their posts in key markets such as China, Japan, the UK, France and Italy.
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The heavyweight international Vogue editors who once filled the front rows at Paris Fashion Week were gone this season, a stark sign of the restructuring that has consolidated power in the hands of global editor Anna Wintour and her regional deputies.
