THE PIECES practically beg to be looked at, touched, examined. Made of rough-hewn onyx, red coral, crystal quartz and amethyst, they are bound by gold wires and strung on leather cords or chains. Gold cuffs are decorated with baroque pearls.
For his first selling show and exhibit at his family’s home in Makati this weekend, Carlo Evaristo is rushing to come up with 150 pieces of jewelry sold under the brand Otsirav’e—his surname spelled backwards.
Inevitable
He says it was inevitable that he would try his hand at design since his family used to run the trendy apparel store, Colleciones New York.
“My mother wanted me to design clothes for the store but I wanted to do my own thing,” Evaristo said.
For a while, he styled photo shoots for ABS-CBN Publishing’s Metro Magazine before packing up and heading for the United States, where he stayed for several years.
Evaristo enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.
“I took up export management and fashion merchandising because I ultimately want to grow the Otsirav’e brand. This is not my first time to try jewelry design, but I also want to go into bags and resort wear. I want to promote the Philippines through my designs.”
Until then, interested parties can view his pieces at carloevaristo.wix.com/carloevaristo.
His first trunk show is ongoing until tomorrow (April 25), 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at 32 Joaquin St., San Lorenzo Village, Makati City.