PROJECT: Spring/Summer Catalog 2009 for Celestina Maynila – New York

Celestina is the internationally-sold accessories line of Tina Maristela-Ocampo. It is the strong artisanal tradition and rare native materials that set them apart.

TEAM: B+C Design, Inc

Heavily inspired by the pieces and the vision the designer had for this season, the copy was borne of being Catholic and being Filipina—its easy juxtapositions and meaningful contradictions.

It reads:

The wishes of the faithful flicker like candles in the silence. There is soft light glinting off the luminous faces of the paua in the hands of the Filipina. The very fingers that smooth the fragrant rosary beads embroider intricate patterns on delicate piña. The thriving artisanal tradition and these life-affirming rituals deepen a rich cultural identity.

These aged walls tell stories of how it takes time to forge silver into exquisite strands. Light streams through windows and bounces off timeworn stone, gleaming like graceful mother-of-pearl. The contemporary is wed with tradition, the everyday suffused with the ethereal. Celestina lays bare the sacred in the beautiful.