Jackie, oh!
The Philippine Star, Myrza Sison
Back in the early ’80s when fashion shows were dinner-theater and models crawled onstage for drama, a bubbly college student from La Salle named Jackie Aquino would step out of his mother’s art gallery at the Hyatt Hotel and sneak into its penthouse restaurant La Concha, where he wouldn’t sit or eat but just stand on the sidelines, mesmerized by its famous luncheon fashion shows. The Hyatt vs. Hilton fashion show wars were on their last hurrah but still held the boy in thrall.
The boy’s only dream? Merely “to be a friend of a model or beauty queen.” Gloria Diaz, Aurora Pijuan and Melanie Marquez were his idols. His fascination with the glamorous life grew even more when...MORE
Philippine Fashion Invades London
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mia Borromeo
I enlisted veteran fashion director Jackie Aquino for the catwalk show. There would also be a Selling Salon featuring hats by award-winning milliner Mich Dulce, exotic handbags by Celestina, innovative piña accessories by Lulu Tan Gan and exquisite jewelry by Joyce Makitalo, Pepito Albert and Wynn Wynn Ong.
Through the very generous support of major sponsors Nokia and Credit Suisse, as well as Amdocs, Etihad Airways and Bank of Singapore, the dream... MORE
Pilots of the Runway
by James Penalosa
Living a glamorous life was one of his dreams. Born in a huge family with 8 children, Jackie Aquino started his career being in loved with the performing arts and music before becoming a stalwart in fashion direction. His father was an air force general but Jackie has chosen to take off on a different kind of runway. As fashion shows being redeveloped in the mid-80’s, Jackie made a reinvention on stage direction when he started to conceptualize an interaction between the models and its audience. This allowed models to freely do whatever they want on stage being in character to further develop their own distinctive style for them to be recognized. The idea became a hit and Jackie has found success in... MORE
(IN) Visible Force
Metro Society, Nikka Sarthou
He is someone who is hard to miss. In the weekday lunch crowd in a gourmet deli, Jackie Aquino stands out with his commanding presence. As I walk to his table, he stands up from his seat and offers a welcoming greeting and handshake. The food laid out in front of him is untouched. He waits until we are both settled before having his brunch.
In between bites of his oatmeal and smoked salmon pasta, he shares how he got into the fashion industry by accident. He was a literature graduate of De La Salle University and fashion was the last thing... MORE