In real life and upclose, his face speaks volumes, and shunning the unnecessary ego massage, the fashion maestro is quintessentially a renaissance man and has quietly gone about doing his works he love most-writing and teaching fashion.
He has forayed a long way from his elegant atelier in one posh district in the old Manila to his chic residence somewhere in one exclusive village. Metaphorically, his journey has traversed many more terrains and mindsets than the mere geographical relocation denotes – for he has broken barriers and boundaries to make a mark not just in fashion but on writing as well.
Monsieur Chrisitian Espiritu is one of the few Filipino maestros in the field of Arts and Designs that straddled an achieved ultimate legacy with great emotional intensity... where fashion is his religion, the true blue old guard demands respect and veneration.
Serenely perched on a chair after a sumptuous lunch, in front of me, it does not take us long to make him go down memory route. Espiritu pushed to a particular direction, the glamour era, a different school of thought where "bleed to perfection" was the norm.
While I checked out his exotic scarf that lined up on his neck, Sir Christian showed great knowledge of the Haute Couture. With a light beer to warm up, he rewinds to the defining changes in the industry, from its true essence and dedication to the craft, and to the new breeds of generation 'Y"'s whose mere existence is synonymous with so many "WHY's.
When he closed his atelier decades ago, he found it difficult to turn his back away from fashion, it's his calling, he can't quit obviously. One of the first things that strikes me about the monsieur when I meet him is his maintained body frame, slimmer than I thought and his facial expressions speak more eloquently than his words.
It is true that he is not the conventional chocolate material but that is not something he ever intended to be, he belongs to the higher level of persona who exudes the charismatic presence..intimidating, yet likeable.
He speaks with candour, "I can not do the mundane" he says, when ask about the present fashion status. He invested much of his life to the arts, and it's so inspiring to listen to this great man, a class act, a fierce one.
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