Oliver Tolentino's ivory pineapple and abaca gown lost to Lebanese designer Rania Salibi's black laser-cut leather gown in the Oscar Design Challenge that culminated on March 8, but he's still a winner for Filipinos.
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- Aside from championing proudly Pinoy materials made from pineapple and abaca, Los-Angeles-based Tolentino also produces his gowns exclusively in the Philippines, he told OFW Diaries.
- His long-time staff makes his designs in the production house inside his Makati atelier and ships the designs to his Los Angeles boutique. Though the arrangement seems complicated, one of his staff, John Alster Bautista, said in Filipino, "He doesn't want to let go of his staff because they have been with him for a long time." Tolentino also swears by the effectiveness of traditional sewing machines which his staff still uses.
