She’s only 28 years old, but Filipina fashion designer Vania Romoff has already been making waves in the local fashion scene for 10 years.
Vania was born into the industry, so to speak. She grew up in Cebu, where her grandmother, Viring Romoff, was deemed the first-ever couturier. Vania’s mother eventually ventured into garment manufacturing business, while her brother Anthony Romoff is also a Cebu-based designer himself.
To further hone her craft, Vania studied fashion design at the School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA) Design Institute.
In October 2008, she made her debut at the Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009 with a 10-piece luxe-wear collection.
Since then, Vania has become a household name among celeb fashionistas. Marian Rivera, Isabelle Daza, Angelica Panganiban, and Maricar Reyes-Poon are among the young designer’s roster of A-list clients.
But what makes her a favorite among the fashion-savvy lot?
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LADYLIKE CLASS. In an interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), Vania revealed her simple formula: "I always make sure that the woman feels beautiful in her clothes."
She added, "Effortless in a sense that if you put on something, you're comfortable with it. So it's always classic, never avant-garde or nothing too crazy.
"It's something I would wear, and I always find that I'm always attracted to...
"I'm really good at more feminine silhouettes, more classic silhouettes, you know.
"Really dainty and really simple."
When asked what her celebrity clients usually requests, she answered, "They're like any other client. They also just want to feel beautiful."
ANNE + VANIA. Vania’s latest work is for Plains & Prints, which is being endorsed by Anne Curtis, also her client.
On July 4, at the Manila Peninsula hotel in Makati City, the local fashion brand showcased Vania's 15-piece capsule collection which was inspired by the colorful and lively bougainvillea flower.
“This collaboration is particularly exciting for me because I get to play with bright colors which I don't normally do,” she said.
When asked how she made each piece relevant to the Pinay shoppers, she answered, "To me, a Filipina is thriving.
"She's optimistic, she's happy, and she's inspired.
"So that image has always resonated when I was making this collaboration because the brand is especially geared towards the modern Filipina.
"I want to celebrate that with happy silhouettes and prints and... I just made sure that more than anything, it also reflected my aesthetics as a designer, which is romantic and feminine and everything is just wearable."
