Claudia Barretto serenades the crowd with her soothing vocals.
Not unlike the crowned O in the Pandora logo, I have come full circle in my partyphile phase.
In the mid-90s, my partner in crime Ysabel Galang-Gatmaitan and I would drive from Los Baños, where we were freshman and junior, respectively, to explore the underground party scene in the edgier side of Manila, which was then a quicker hour-and-a half drive from our campus. One of the more creative “raves” we went to was inside an ice factory in good old Pasay, where the frigid air was the perfect backdrop for the beginnings of electronic music. We were both dressed in Cecil Zamora and Havoc by Adam de Lumen, the uniform of the underground scene, and since we both didn’t smoke or drink, made straight for the snack counter (if there was one) in between frenetic dancing on the icy floor.
Megan Young
Twenty years later, and just weeks ago, the Cebu crew found ourselves in the bowels of Makati, far removed from the highrises and all that steel and glass, in a space built for parties in the middle of what is suddenly a chic underbelly to the usual. It was like my 90s raves with Belay, only this time the characters were the nubile young set—nephews and nieces, no doubt, of those I partied with back in the day— turned out for the launch party of the new Reflexions collection of Pandora, an accessory brand that quite frankly has taken me by surprise at their tenacity and longevity in a fickle fashion market.
Two reasons for their success were evident that night: they have learned to tap into the zeitgeist who train the spotlight by sheer force of will and chutzpah, and who turn a mundane school night into the week’s hottest ticket. Second, the constant reinvention.
The Reflexions collection from Pandora is a sleek new reinvention
The new accessories, which were waiting at our suites at the beautiful New World Makati, came in neat white boxes all ready to adorn our wrists. They are done in rose gold or silver metal mesh, and fall flatter on the skin for a sleeker feel. Even their signature, buildable, charms come in designs that slip effortlessly onto the bracelets and no longer hang off them like more traditional charms. The “X” in Reflexions is deliberate, meant to evoke the concept of customization (Xpression, Xcitement, Xceeding Xpectations) and the collection’s name itself, a play on the same: these trinkets, after all, are a reflection of their owners and how they ultimately build from the plethora of Pandora choices.
Mine is a dainty rose gold mesh bracelet in the Pandora Rose with a simple o-shaped charm slid into it. I can see it stacked three-tone style with the Pandora Sterling Silver and the 18-karat gold plated sterling silver Pandora Shine, with a trinket added
to mark an occasion. Maybe a heart, to replace the one you stole from me.
(To see more of this party and the new collection, follow the hashtag #PANDORAReflexions on Instagram and Facebook)