Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

NEW YORK is every fashionista’s playground. Twice every year, the city celebrates the much-awaited Fashion Week, a fiesta of all things fashionable. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world in design meccas such as Paris, London and Milan.

From the tents of Bryant Park, this year’s Fashion Week moved cross-town, to the Lincoln Center. This is now where mainstream American (and a few international) fashion designers showcase their latest collections.

Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based Filipina designer Monique Lhuillier unveiled her collection (check sidebar), and fashion critics say they were once again dazzled by her Garden of Eden-themed designs.

Various adjectives were used to describe the gowns - from "ethereal" to "stunning" and from "breath-takingly beautiful" to "Oscar-worthy". Wall Street Journal said that Lhuillier presented a "confident collection of feminine frocks, in hues ranging from heart-stopping red to buttery toffee to a sweetly demure blush."

Accolades don’t stop there: actress Emma Roberts, after seeing the designer’s latest offerings, tweeted "Monique Lhuillier show was absolutely beautiful! So many dresses I want to wear!!!"

Roberts is just one of the many Hollywood celebrities who have worn Monique’s gowns, including Eva Longoria Parker, Jennifer Lopez, Katie Holmes, Kristen Stewart and Drew Barrymore. Britney Spears wore two custom-designed Monique Lhuillier gowns in her much-publicized wedding to Kevin Federline in 2004, and this year the designer also made two gowns for Carrie Underwood’s wedding to hockey player Mike Fischer.

In her show notes, the designer explained how her new collection was conceptualized: "This collection came to me in a dream....a beautiful girl running through a lush garden. Her very own Garden of Eden. Beautiful flowering trees in watercolor hues. Red apple dresses and the temptation of the snake. Seen in a subtle reptile pattern in flowing chiffons. Lots of shimmer from the glistening sun on dewy surfaces. Ombres in blues and greens, pale pinks dominate. I don’t want to wake up, I am in a state of euphoria!"

Lhuillier is also reportedly making Regine Velasquez’s wedding gown, and that Dr. Vicki Belo is giving it as a gift to the singer. News reports say that it has been Regine’s dream to wear a Monique Lhuillier creation on her wedding day.