A REFRESHED RUSTAN'S KIDS BY A HOMEGROWN RUSTAN'S KID

Isabella Fernandez, granddaughter of the late Criselda Lontok, is the new designer for Rustanette and Rustan Jr.

- By MONIQUE BUENSALIDO

It seems like kismet that Criselda Lontok's granddaughter is now designing for kids and grandkids under Rustan's Kids. After all, she grew up hanging around the floor of Rustan's, watching and playing while her iconic lola was working. "My grandmother was the type of person who wanted to be in the store, so I was in the store with her in my Assumption uniform," she says.

Years later, she's sitting in the midst of the holiday collection of the in-house brands of Rustan's Kids, Rustanette (for girls) and Rustan Jr. (for boys), the first collection she worked on and designed – no longer a kid, but a 28-year-old designer. Her comfort, familiarity, and happiness around Rustan's is clear as she walks around the store. But it was quite a journey before she found herself here. Fernandez' story started with her swimwear line called Alba Manila in 2018, and that experience made her want to get more technical with design. Once the pandemic hit, she and her partner hit pause on Alba and she started taking the online classes at SoFA. She then decided to take up fashion abroad. When she told her grandmother, she lamented, "'Why would you leave? You could just work with me!'", Fernandez remembers. Of course, she understood where her Mamita was coming from. Criselda never studied abroad; in fact, she never went through any formal training. "She started in merchandising at Rustan's in the '80s," explains Fernandez. "Lola Glecy (Tantoco, founder of Rustan's) told her, 'I really like your eye, why don't we do something in-house?'" Criselda's amazing taste grew the brand to what it is today. "She was very visual," says Fernandez. "She understood her customers very well; they were all her amigas!"