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By Sidney Ang, Contributor
Every year, every industry has its highlights.
For the advertising world, it’s the Ad Congress. For the marketing
practitioners, it’s the Agora Awards. And of course let’s not
forget when Hollywood gives itself a pat on the back and hands out
the Oscars. For local fashion denizens, it happened last month at
Philippine Fashion Week. This month, it’s the automotive
aftermarket’s turn with the Manila Auto Salon. And these two shows
actually have a lot in common than most people would think.
Industry shows are when the participants
showcase their best and newest. Philippine Fashion Week showed off
new collections of top fashion designers as well as up and coming
young newbies. Fashion Week is a justified excuse for designers to
go all out and wild with honest-to-goodness un-wearable things that
look absolutely amazing on the runway, in pictures and on video. The
Manila Auto Salon is no different. Monetary budget is a distant
third concern when modifying a show-winning entry. Its about who can
fit the biggest wheels, the most retina-burning paintjob, the
loudest and most loaded sound system, the biggest and “baddest”
engine, and, of course, the lowest ride. This is the most level
playing field you can get if you’re new to the industry and
utterly important and critical if your one of the big names.
Preparation extends months before the actual
show, what designs or colors would be hot, what car makes and models
are popular now. Like very show, you have your showstoppers and your
volume-based creations. No different when selecting a display car to
join. Do you use uber expensive fine silk or cotton. Do you get a
display a drool worthy Mitsubishi Evolution X or a more pedestrian
Mazda 3 with a lot more examples running around on the road, which
translates to more potential customers.
There is no better common ground to cars and
fashion than color. As most famous said by Meryl Streep in the Devil
Wear Prada, “That blue represents millions of dollars and
countless jobs . . . in fact you’re wearing the sweater.” Sure,
you would always have your mainstays of black, red or yellow. But
this year, metallic gold or neon orange might be the color to have.
Car fashion is most evident in the various body kits that get
slapped on cars. Wide body, drift style, JDM, Euro, what’s hot
this year would be passé next year. Five years ago, Lamborghini
style swing up doors were all the rage, everyone simply had to have
it, until they found out it was a real pain in the ass to use. Two
years ago, two-tone paint schemes were the thing, it was a cheap way
of getting a new look without spending too much on paint. Now
they’re no wear to be seen.
Wheels are the third in the car fashion
triumvirate along with color and body kits. They are essentially
shoes and as any shoemaker can tell you, its all about design,
design and design. As with everything, bigger is always better and
only in car shows you would see the biggest of the big. A couple of
years ago, having 18-inch wheels was absurdly huge, but now we have
24, 26 and even 30-inch wheels. Every year, its a nuclear arms race
between the wheel manufacturers to go bigger and bigger. And much
like fashion, retro inspired styles or even vintage wheels garner
their fair share of “oohs” and “ahhs.”
And then we have two absurdly polarized extremes
of the spectrum. Show-stopping presence or practicality. No place is
this more obvious than the extremes of sound setup and engine
performance. Much like that gold sequined D&G gown that weighs a
ton and a pain in the ass to put on, or a much simpler and way
cheaper gold fabric of the almost same design, its a simple matter
of how much you’re willing to sacrifice. You can have the loudest
sound system but you have to turn your van into a two-seater to
achieve it. Or you want the “baddest” engine with 1,000
horsepower, only to have it absurdly un-drivable stumbling cacophony
at anything below 5,000 revolutions a minute.
Of course, the bottom line for the companies
that exhibit in both Fashion Week and Manila Auto Salon is the
amount of business and exposure that the participants hope to
generate in the aftermath. Its simply all about business and for the
people who go there for the price of P50, they get to see live in
person things that they only read in magazines or see in TV.
Who the hell are we kidding? The only reason we
go to see Fashion Week or Manila Auto Salon is to ogle at the
overwhelming number of models in skimpy attire.
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