Kaye Tiñga is still in disbelief at how much her group made from their one-day relief sale for the victims of Typhoon “Yolanda” last Sunday.
“We made P1.5 million for the Red Cross,” she reports happily.
The philanthropist and her friends—fashion designers Pepito Albert, Inno Sotto and Ian Giron; makeup artist Patrick Rosas; and fashion show director Ariel Lozada—simply tapped their circle for donations of designer pieces, and spread the word via Instagram.
The donations came pouring. Renowned accessories designer Bea Valdes sent brand-new purses and necklaces. Then came brand-new and pre-loved purses and shoes from the likes of Shera Tiu, Ginger Ignacio, Kathy Huang, Nicole Gaw, Cindy Yang, Beng Dee, Alice Eduardo, Salome Uy, Kai Lim, Mandy de la Rama, Veana Fores, Bea Lhuillier, Ingrid Go, Tessa Valdes, among many others.
Pretty soon, there were piles and piles of Chanel, Christian Louboutin, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Emilio Pucci, Gucci, Manolo Blahnik, Missoni, such that W/17, Tiñga’s home store on Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati, became a virtual souk of designer cast-offs.
“We couldn’t believe the response,” she says. “The buyers came from all over. There were some from as far as Laguna…”
The sale was set to start at 11 a.m. By 9 a.m., they were getting reservations for the big-ticket items, like the Chanel purses. “People were already outside at 10 a.m. When afternoon came,
we hardly had any items left to sell.”
Tiñga says they made a little over P200,000 in cash; the rest were paid with checks made out to the Philippine Red Cross.
“We didn’t expect that there would be a market for such. We’re encouraged because we know the relief efforts will need a lot more. We didn’t mark up the items. Bea Valdes, for one, left it to us to put prices on her pieces.”
Tiñga and her team are planning another relief sale on December 1. This is guilt-free shopping since all proceeds will go to the typhoon victims.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAYE TIÑGA
