Designer Michelle Varela-Lim has become expert at navigating the ups and downs of country’s fickle-minded fashion industry but has considered the dictates of the times as a great challenge. She has remained focused on luxury ready-to-wear that’s globally appealing and makes use of locally produced materials.

Her collection Luxe Rocks presented during the recent Philippine Fashion Week is best described in three words: Glamorous, timeless and understated, referring to the refined elegance of her inspirations and her muses. From gems and jewel tones and a fashion icon associated with each precious stone, the collection took the glamor and luxury of old Hollywood and translates these into pieces rich in texture and modern sophistication.

Amethyst, with Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s as muse, for instance, consisted of purple tailored dresses in piña with carefully executed draping details; while Ruby, taking a sophisticated cue from Elizabeth Taylor, included big red skirts with layered fabrics, ornate accents, and a variety of textures.

The Veronica Lake-inspired Sapphire was comprised of close-to-the body classic yet sexy eveningwear; Pearl, a homage to the Flapper era, featured pieces using piña fabric; Topaz, which put forward the 1940’s era, showed bows and a lot of embellishments; and Diamond, featured Grace Kelly-esque elegant ball dresses.

With these exciting couture ideas, Michelle is truly making her mark as a woman’s woman designer, one who makes sure a client will always feel good about herself while donning a Varela-Lim number. A Donna Karan of luxury dressing with a Vera Wang-like aesthetic, someone with an astute understanding of what women want.

"A woman deserves to be treated like a princess. It’s every girl’s dream to play dress-up and look beautiful. What more if luxewear is made within your reach so it doesn’t just have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Whoever you are, whatever state of life you’re in, you want that one moment or chance to look glamorous. Some women even pass up occasions just because they don’t have the right dress to wear! We’re all the same in that way," Michelle says.

In her latest collection, Michelle is conveying a return to a careful, well-thought out approach to dressing. Given the tough realities of the current times, luxury maybe a risky route to take, but she has created competitively priced pieces that speak of its Filipino origins and that give women the chance to have what they truly desire.