MANILA, Philippines—Even in this supposed season of giving, a seemingly innocuous activity such as Christmas shopping is bound to be a test of selflessness and goodwill among Bea Valdes’ legions of fans.

As her way of saying thank you to friends and supporters, the celebrated Filipino bag and accessories designer has come up with a capsule collection consisting of four intricately beaded bags and 16 statement necklaces exclusively for the Philippine market.

“I’ve been wanting to do this collection for Firma for the longest time,” says Valdes. “The problem was finding the time to do it because I wanted to come up with something special based on my signature pieces.”

Since her Philippine debut several fashion seasons ago, Valdes has been catering exclusively to an ever-growing foreign clientele. From four people, she now manages an army of 40 craftsmen (majority of them are women) in her office-cum-factory in Bicutan.

Her sister and business partner, Marga, is the company’s marketing manager, while their mom Pamela is the operations manager.

To further spice up the situation, Valdes gave birth four months ago to Bella, her daughter by boyfriend Archie Rodriguez. Whereas she used to devote her time to designing and supervising the production of her pieces, the first-time mom now has to personally attend to Bella as much as possible.

“Before it was more spontaneous,” she says of her design process. “Now I spend most of my evenings researching and working on my designs. I leave for the office in the morning and go home by 2 p.m. I now try to get everything done within that period of time.”

Although they’re nowhere to be found in the Philippines, her creations, which carry her name, now grace the shelves of such upscale stores as Barney’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Harvey Nicks. Apart from such hotels as the Dorchester and Wynn, the items are also carried by a number of upscale jewelry stores in Europe, Mauritius and even Kazakhstan.

Her pieces have also made it to the pages of American glossies such as Vogue and graced the arms and necks of high-profile celebrities like actress Sharon Stone, supermodel Christy Turlington and fashion designer Rachel Roy.

These developments, of course, apart from the exquisite bags and necklaces themselves, have made Valdes’ creations all the more covetable to not a few Filipino women. Perhaps, through this holiday series, they now have a chance to own at least one Bea Valdes.

Reunion

This rare occasion is also a reunion of sorts between Valdes and Firma owners Ricky Toledo and Chito Vijandre. It was Firma, after all, which featured Valdes’ debut collection three years ago. It was also the collection that launched her in the US.

This time, however, Valdes’ stuff is on display at AC+632 in Greenbelt 5. Vijandre and Toledo also own and manage the newly opened high-end boutique in Makati that specializes in “heirloom” brands and bespoke items inspired by Old World traditions.

Due to the limited number of the new series, we won’t be surprised if a mad scramble ensues among Manila’s fashionistas as they try to be the first to get their hands on these one-of-a-kind must-haves. Indeed, hell hath no fury than a determined Christmas shopper scorned!

Like her previous pieces, the series has a way of beguiling the eyes, with its array of colors and textures resulting from a painstaking and ingenious assembly of glass beads, resins, Swarovski crystals and semi-precious stones such as onyx, garnets, agates and turquoise.

“Since they’re based on my signature pieces, some of them look similar to what I’ve done before,” she says. “But they’re all unique from each other and smaller in scale.”

Valdes took into consideration the Asian frame in her decision to tone down the size of her eye-catching series of pendants. What’s more, they’re all strung together by fine satin ribbons to allow the wearer to adjust the pendants’ positions.

“You can wear them high up or low depending on your mood, the event and the dress,” she says. “I want the jewelry pieces to have some sort of different personalities and different lives.”

If anything, success and motherhood have yet to hamper Valdes’ creativity. In fact, says Toledo, her pieces have become all the more intricate and refined through the years.

“Bea always comes up with something different that never fails to catch your attention,” he says. “She’s one designer who’s way ahead of her time.”