If you look up Celine Lopez Magsanoc, the epithet you’ll always find is “OG It Girl.” And it makes sense. Vivacious and charming, there’s something magnetic about her presence, with an exuberant laugh and a calm yet commanding presence.
During the shoot, I rifled through her closet, which brimmed with fabulous fur coats, then dashed past art pieces, from a massive Manuel Ocampo painting to a sculpture with undulating fish tails in marble and brass.
But besides being an “it girl,” Lopez has worn many hats, as a media executive, fashion editor, producer, and stylist. “I treasure all my experiences,” she expresses. “My decades in media gave me invaluable lessons in dealing with people, making the impossible happen, and constantly calibrating my moral compass,” she reflects. “One of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had was producing the movie ‘Metro Manila’ from literally nothing and seeing it shine worldwide. I think that’s kind of hard to beat in terms of intensity.”
Yet even with such career milestones, it’s her personal projects that seem to resonate most deeply at present.
“Living Things” and living spaces
At the moment, her apartment is lined with bubble wrap and old newspapers. She’s repainting her walls, testing a mustard yellow, though she may return to a simpler cream color. She repaints almost monthly, she shrugs, then pauses before another wall, deciding between shades of deep aubergine or rich chocolate brown.
“What really feeds my soul is when I decorate my homes. It’s almost a religious experience,” she gushes.
“What really feeds my soul is when I decorate my homes. It’s almost a religious experience.”
It’s also clear that besides dressing well and redecorating often, Lopez Magsanoc has a relentless desire to create tangible projects. Most recently, she’s been working on the production of a published coffee table book, titled “Living Things,” made in collaboration with photographer Joseph Pascual.
“We featured interesting individuals in their homes,” she explains. “Most of them were done without professional help, and you can just see the love and character blossom in each space… It’s the side of the Philippines that the design world rarely sees.”
When asked what one lesson readers should take from her book, she says, “Be yourself and break all the rules you don’t agree with. Pick what you like and not something that hypnotized you on social media. It’s hard to find true inspiration in the digital age.”
“I’ll be corny and say just look inwards and you’ll know if that couch is really for you,” she quips.
“I’ll be corny and say just look inwards and you’ll know if that couch is really for you.”
During the making of the book, among the memorable moments came not from any grand gesture, but from subtle interactions. “It was the laughs I shared with Joseph and also slowly getting to know him in the process. That was an absolute gift,” she says.
Family, dogs, and joyful chaos
Despite her glamorous exterior, Lopez is also a devoted mother, especially to her young, sweet son, Fernando. She opens up about how motherhood can bring both joy and trepidation. “It’s more of trepidation that they don’t warn you about. I’m always worrying, and Fernando is just so confident and self-assured that he just tells me to chill out on a daily basis.”
With such warm energy, it makes sense that she’s also a mom to a boisterous pack of dogs. She describes these animal companions as a grounding force. “I have an aspin named Scout, an Afghan Hound, Easton, and two poodles, Fragola and Nimbus. My husband has five of his own. We divide them between our house in the city and our weekend home in the South.”
Married to Marti Magsanoc, a respected doctor and owner of Archivo 1984, the couple seems to live surrounded by objects that matter, infused with memories, from beautiful art to daily things they interact with that bring joy.
Living things, truly
With walls that change color monthly, closets that seem to double as fashion archives, homes filled with laughter, dogs, family, and objects that speak to the heart, wherever Lopez walks, she transforms a space to extensions of identity, with an approach to interiors that seems to mirror her fearless yet authentic manner of moving through life.
And ultimately, her newest book extends that identity to celebrating the homes of others, with all the possibilities of expressing one’s creative personality.
Because in this “OG It Girl’s” world, poise goes hand in hand with playfulness, as art, style, and great taste intersect, as she transforms the ordinary act of inhabiting a home to become something extraordinary.
Creative direction by Ria Prieto. Photos by Mark Nicdao.
This story was featured in AdmiRED, published in Inquirer RED 2026
