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| SWEET SUMMER. Amina Aranaz-Alunan with her Club Tropicana collection. Photography by Jory Rivera |
My second pool party of the season :)
MANILA, Philippines - How do you combine partying with shopping and pampering?
Ask Amina Aranaz-Alunan, who threw the perfect one on a sunny Saturday afternoon last April 5.
The Club Tropicana pool party was the 4th in a string of events for the busy mom and entrepreneur: first there was Manila FAME at SMX, then there was the graduation show of School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA, where Amina is founding partner and executive director), followed by Fashion Access Hong Kong 2014.
Summer trends: Visions of young Pinoy designers (Yahoo SHE)
Add to these the fact that Amina is a mother of three. If the film "I Don't Know How She Does It" (starring Sarah Jessica Parker) were a real-life story, Amina would be its star.
The pool party was the official launch of Club Tropicana, the Aranaz Spring-Summer 2014 collection. It was also the launch of Aranaz Beach Boutique, a pop-up online store that features other Filipino brands that Aranaz supports.
Amina Aranaz-Alunan's top summer must-haves (Yahoo SHE)
Aside from the yummy pica-pica, there was fresh juice courtesy of Jusa, and liquid nitrogen ice cream freshly-prepared courtesy of Kool Kids (owned by Amina's older brother, Miguel). And of course, since the party was meant to go beyond sundown, there was a bar serving refreshing drinks with Belvedere Vodka.
Shopping was a big part of the day: there was a booth were clients could customize their own Carrie bag (an Aranaz classic) and a trunk show version of the Aranaz Beach Boutique. At a corner of the trunk show was a comfy area for nail pampering.
Before Amina's guests started arriving, she sat down with me for a quick interview:
You are still remembered as a model; now you are a designer and a household name when it comes to Pinoy design and export. Remind us again how Aranaz started.
This [October] 2014, we’re celebrating our 15th year. It started when I was in college, because my mom has an export and manufacturing business. I grew up with the bag factory as my weekend place, my playground. When we were in college, my brother decided to try to sell some showroom samples. We were surprised that it was quite successful.
I also felt that I really wanted to create a brand that was accessible to the local market. I’d go to my mom’s factory and I would see designer brands in the factory. I was so sad that people didn’t know they were made in the Philippines.
I knew we could make the same quality, so I decided to start the Aranaz brand which is a Filipino brand. My primary focus back then was to cater to the Philippine market with export-quality handbags.
Was it easy to shift from modeling to designing?
I’d always wanted to be a designer. As a child, I was really very creative, and I enjoyed exploring creativity, so I knew that eventually that’s where I would end up. The fact that, somehow, I was in the industry also helped me reach out to people. They sort of had recall of who I was.
Modeling was really a side thing. I always knew that I wouldn’t do modeling as a career. It was really just something on the side
How do you balance your time between SoFA and Aranaz?
It’s very tricky. Very, very tricky.
In the past, especially when SoFA had just started, I had to sacrifice Aranaz because I knew that SoFA needed a lot of attention. This was in the first 5, 6 years of SoFA (now 7 years old). I really started focusing again on Aranaz in 2013, when I tried to penetrate the international market.
But now, I divide my time in half. In a week, I spend around 3 days in SoFA, two days in Aranaz. The following week, I’ll make it 3 days in Aranaz, two days in SoFA. I also work a lot remotely, wherever I am.
How about balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship?
I think, in a way, they go hand in hand. I’m lucky that I’m an entrepreneur because I handle my own schedule. It’s flexible. If I need to go to my children’s school, I can do it, because I don’t need to report to a 9-to-5 job.
I think it’s innate with entrepreneurship that there are no walls, in a way, between work and home.
Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad. Those are things that I constantly struggle with. In fact, I made a conscious effort last year to really try to divide -- that when I’m home, I stop working. Before, it was non-stop.
I made a conscious effort to do that.
Check out our photos from the relaxed yet festive Aranaz pool party:
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| Amina during our interview. It was VERY windy! |
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| After our interview, Amina took us around. Here she is at the Customize Your Own Carrie Tote booth. |
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| Broadcast journalist Ces Orena-Drilon was one of the first guests to arrive. She gamely wore the cute shades being given out at the party. |
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| Refreshments the natural way courtesy of Jusa |
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| Ready for the vodka |
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| Light canapes perfect for a pool party |
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| My favorite tote from the Club Tropicana collection. Just looking at it already makes me happy. |
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| Shades by Aranaz. The tray they're in is part of the Aranaz home ware. |
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| Hard to pick just one! |
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| Dress up for that romantic beach dinner with earrings like these |
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| Paisley, tie-dye, stripes...it doesn't matter, so long as your swimwear is in bright summer colors |
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| Eye-catching sets you can also wear in the city |
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| The Customize Your Carrie Tote hut was the busiest area at the party |
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| A man attaches the Aranaz insignia and leather straps to the bags |
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| These ladies sew on the appliques and monograms onto the Carrie totes |
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| Amina and Ces joined by Daphne Osena-Paez |
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| Liquid nitrogen ice cream prepared right in front of us |
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| Feels like a deliciously sweet Science experiment! |
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