Beautiful Cebu

Cebu is not the same colonial province time has forgotten decades ago. It is not a periphery to the center but rather, a destination with its own unique charm. Discover for yourself. See new destinations in the Cebu mainland. Read on...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

PROFILE | Monique Lhuillier


Monique Llhuillier dresses top Hollywood celebs. Winner of the 2001 Glamorous Bridal Designer Award, the 2002 Avant Garde Bridal Designer Award and the 2003 Designer of the Year Award from Wedding Dresses Magazine, she is one of Hollywood's favorite fashion designers.

Born In Cebu City to socialite mother Amparito and Jeweler father, Michel Lhuiller, she studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), where she met her husband, Tom Bugbee.

She was one of Penshoppes' original print models back in the 1980s. She grew up in Cebu City where her family owns a chain of pawnshops which carries the family name. Of French and Cebuano descent, Monique's French last name means "oilmaker.”

Having had a difficult time finding a gown she likes during her wedding, Lhuillier, decided to begin sketching her own line of dresses. Her husband thought it was nothing more than a hobby, one that she would tire of soon enough. "He thought I had the wedding blues and eventually I’d get over it,” she told USA Weekend Magazine.

Lhuillier and her husband founded their company in 1996 and launched their first bridal collection. The line was well-received by fashion-savvy brides, editors, and celebrities. She eventually, made the news with two high-profile celebrity weddings in a row. She designed Christine Baumgartner’s wedding dress for the fall 2004 wedding to Kevin Costner right after designing Britney Spears’s wedding dress for her wedding to Kevin Federline.

She also designed the wedding gown of former US Vice President and former Second Lady Al and Tipper Gore’s youngest daughter, Sarah G. Lee, during her marriage to Bill Lee.

Lhuillier later added evening wear to her line, and several of her works were worn by hollywood celebs and paraded prominently on red carpets during awards nights.


Read about Miguel Syjuco here.

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