Welcoming the holidays in true fashion statement, Gucci inaugurated recently its flagship store in Greenbelt 4, Makati.

Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI) hosted the  très exclusive invitational cocktail and dinner for 40 namedroppables.

Welcoming the guests were Gucci Group Asia Pacific CEO and president Mimi Tang and William Yoon, respectively; Gucci Group Worldwide Travel Retail director Terry Ong and Gucci Asia Pacific VMD director Sebastian Tan; and SSI executive VP Anton Huang.

The new interiors are patterned after the “Frida 1” style/design by Gucci creative director Frida Giannini with smoked glass and mirrors and polished gold, to give the boutique a heightened sense of luxury.

Après cocktails we were led by a single line of handsome ushers, all in black, to the dinner venue, Sala Bistro in Greenbelt 3, but not after taking us at arm’s length along the red carpet.

As we sat down for dinner, moi noticed there were only a small handful of the true social-hitters around. I wondered, why?

Anyway, dinner was an excellent fusion of food and music as four musical performers performed and signaled every change of the dinner course. The dinner lights changed from sunset until nightfall, that set the perfect mood for the evening.

Saxophone player Michael Young was followed by model-turned-guitarist Robby Mananquil of the Lip Service band. Then, bongo percussionist Stefan Lowenstein took center stage, followed by the incredible acoustic warbler Zia Quizon.

In the end, everyone agreed that the namedroppable brand Gucci lived up to its high-end fashion legacy, dahlings.

Gucci is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists Inc. at Greenbelt 4, and Rustan’s Tower Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

New fashion brand Siya

Thursday nights are the most fashionable as the boutique nightclub Privé Luxury Club holds its Privé Style Series. Privé is the top venue for designer shows and launches every Thursday, alongside its Wednesday, Friday and Saturday DJ-driven programming, palanggas.

Privé and Mega Magazine’s Style Series presented again another lust-worthy collection of gorgeous dresses by brand Siya, “this time inspired by the richness and incredibility of India, where the brand’s designer, Siya Daryani, hails from,” explained the adorable Celine Gabriel Lim of ARC Marketing.

The brand unveiled its Spring/Summer 2012 collection “Summer Flights of Fancy,” with 15 gorgeous muses: Diana Kwon, Beatriz Asuncion, Surbhi Sahijwani, Sasha Budhrani, Divina Chotrani, Reshma Chulani, Lourd Ramos, Nisha Hemlani and Michelle Pamintuan.

Each creation used authentic Indian beading and embroidery techniques, turning into eye-catching “juxtapositions” of rich materials and textures.

A fashion film, shot by Nicco Santos and styled by Gerick Ortiz, featuring muse Helena Belmonte, was unveiled during the show.

WelI, dahlings, it was just the beginning and big happenings are ahead for Siya.

More info? Check out [email protected].

Lucaris

East meets West in Lucaris. It is crystal ware borne out of Eastern tradition and Western innovation. Its beautiful new collection of crystal stemware was launched in the grand ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental Manila.

The whole ballroom was transformed into a crystal arena with a huge chandelier, carefully made out of Lucaris glasses as the awesome majestic centerpiece, palanggas.

The high-profile event brought together the diplomatic set, hoteliers, socialites and party players alike, all eager to discover the mystery behind the Lucaris mystique, while sipping endlessly the chilled Moet & Chandon champagne and partaking of the gourmet treats from Mandarin’s Tivoli.

Après, the invitees were treated to the incredible voice of international singer-actress Stephanie Reese.

Lucaris is superbly created through a collaboration of Thailand’s Ocean Glass, Toyo Sasaki Glass with design by Martin Ballendat. He infused tradition with modernity, grace with function. Lucaris is superb crystal wear, palanggas.

Lucaris is available in Rustan’s, Landmark and select SM Department Stores.

Alabang bazaar

The Zonta Club of Alabang will hold its annual Christmas bazaar on Dec. 17-18, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., at the Cuenca Court, Ayala Alabang Village, Muntinlupa City.

“It is a bazaar like no other, because it reaches out to the whole family, and all funds raised are earmarked for the intended projects for the empowerment of women in the Muntinlupa area,” said Zonta Club official Baby O’Brien.

Throughout the bazaar, clowns, acrobats and jugglers will entertain kids and grown-ups alike. Raffle prizes will be given away. Supporting the bazaar is media partner 96.3 Easy Rock. (Check out [email protected] or www.zcalabang.org.)

See you there!