SOMETIMES the only difference between scrutiny and appreciation is a white wall and a bare room; metaphor, perhaps, for the state of the subconscious set up by surroundings and social circumstance. Truth be told, when the defenses are down, and there are no expectations, appreciation comes easier, and art merges with life to become very, very real.

IF hot young designer Edwin Ao is any indication, tastes and trends in local fashion are undergoing yet another evolution, moving from the rattered-tattered, layered, threadbare deconstruction look to a more fluid and clean yet still textured style—product, if it is also any indication, of the possibilities of technology and human ingenuity.

WHO doesn’t want to be an Elite Model? The 26 finalists of this year’s Elite Model Look Philippines certainly never imagined themselves growing up to be anything but. Chosen from over 500 aspirants who answered the casting call at SM malls in Manila and key provincial cities like Cebu and Iloilo, the aspirants represent "the diversity of looks that distinguishes the Filipino model from their Asian counterparts, from Eurasian mestizas to distinctly Malay faces to those with Chinese features," says Errol Isip, managing director of The Velvet Rope Casting and Productions, which is co-producing this year’s search.