True BLUED Styleprenuers Prevail

Being a student and a fashion designer at the same time sounds like a tough work but BLUED Project’s aspiring Stylepreneurs accepted the challenge and succeeded in the exceptional venture.

The students from Southville International College won as the country’s first BLUED Styleprenuers, garnering a special internship program under BLUED, premium BLUED items and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to launch their own BLUED collection.

“BLUED is for young, hip students and professionals. And our inspiration was to go basic, classy and trendy. We promoted BLUED as a clothing line with classic pieces that everyone can mix and match with their daily wardrobe,” representative from the Southville International College said.BLUED, the country’s premier purveyor of classic and timeless fashion, recently celebrated its 20^th year through launching an inter-university design and marketing plan competition. The competing students were asked to come up with a full integrated marketing communications campaign for their own clothing line, while still incorporating the brand’s basic, casual and carefree style.Held March 24 at the Market, Market activity center, the culminating activity was hosted by DJ Vince Golangco of Mellow 94.7 and participated by students, parents, BLUED top executives and media representatives. The event was opened by BLUED’s Brand Manager and Vice President for Marketing Ms. Chinky De Leon. Fashion shows featuring the brand’s summer collection and the students’ creations also followed before the announcement of winner.

“It’s a good thing to encourage the students to practice their ingenuity. And we, from BLUED, are more than pleased when we initiated the BLUED project to recognize what young minds can contribute when it comes to fashion and marketing,” said Chinky De Leon.

The panel of judges were Brad Geiser, the leading social marketer in the Philippines and the managing director of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications, Inc.; fashion maven Pam Gonzales, who has been in the industry for 10 years as a fashion PR consultant; celebrated young fashion designer and president of the Young Designer’s Guild of the Philippines Louis Claparols; Jon Rojo, vice president for corporate Branding and communications of Bayan Telecommunications and newly elected president of Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA); and fashion enthusiast, entrepreneur, and BLUED president Benzon Tan.

The entries were reviewed based on the following criteria: 40 percent for IMC plan feasibility; 35 percent for design; and 25 percent for the online voting of designs. The winner was announced by Mr. Benzon Tan and Ms. Pam Gonzales.

The runner-ups that also presented their masterpieces during the event were from Lyceum of the Philippines University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and University of Santo Tomas.