A magical forest, a handsome prince, under a blanket of a mystical starry night—these are not the images one usually associates with Pandora, that character in Greek mythology who unwittingly unleashed evil into the world.
But in a ballet re-imagination, Pandora is a woman who sets out deep into the woods to discover its wonders, and along the way meets new friends and her prince, in a journey to her happy ever after.
This was “A Mystical Tale with Pandora,” a fantastical story interpreted in ballet by the Philippine Ballet Theater, under the direction of Floy Quintos, with set and costume design by Gino Gonzales.
Actress Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo narrated. It was conceptualized for the launch of Pandora’s Fall-Winter 2014 collection at the SM Mega Fashion Hall last week.
“When the collection was previewed to us, we thought that what better way to present it than through a ballet,” said Tricie Legarda, Pandora Phils.’ sales and marketing manager.
In the ballet, Pandora added new charms around her delicate wrist to signify each chapter in her adventure, not unlike what avid Pandora collectors do. And at the launch, they came in droves and hobnobbed with celebrity guests.
“What sets Pandora apart, I think, is that we tell a better story,” said Emerson Yao, managing director of Lucerne Luxe, local distributor of Pandora. “We have thousands of charms, and people don’t get tired choosing charms that tell their own personal stories. We have four releases a year, so it’s never boring.”
Once a person starts collecting, he added, one is hooked.
Fall has three sub-collections. One is Mystical Fairy Tale, which consists of gold-toned charms that include faceted Murano stones, a unicorn, a fairy, a book.
The Shimmering Leaves collection is a nod to fairy-tale Pandora’s magical forest. The leaves-theme motif has filigree styles as well as pieces with cubic zirconia to underscore the glitter and shine.
The Dark Florals consists of sterling silver pieces with black enamel details.
Winter has the always-popular Santa charm, with holiday classic charms such as teddy bear, gift box and candy cane.
Pandora is a Danish jewelry brand founded in 1982. The Lucerne Group, known for a distribution portfolio of luxury watches, brought in Pandora three years ago and has quickly expanded to nine boutiques, with two more opening before yearend, according to Yao.
“The growth in affordable luxury is quite strong,” Yao said. “There’s a lot of new malls, and these malls are not necessarily high-luxury malls. They’re at this price point [as Pandora]. So we see more opportunities for the brand.
“What’s unique is that once you get into it, you keep increasing your collection. Customers never leave us, and we always get new customers.”
