Prado, Keziah Mace D.

BSM42

The Story of Success, According to Liz Uy

I. Background

a. Family

Given a birth name of Lizelle Venelli Uy and was born on February 8,

1982; Liz Uy was raised in a Chinese family. According to interviews she held,

her family is very conservative and traditional. Up to date, the family still practices

Chinese traditions. Their close relationship between the members is also evident.

It is also known how supportive Liz is to her younger siblings.

The Uy’s family consists of five members – Bing (father), Nennette

(mother), Vince (eldest), Liz (middle child), and Laureen (youngest). Her parents

are bankers while her siblings are prominent in the fashion industry like her. Her

younger sister seemingly carries the same love for fashion like hers – a designer

and fashion blogger. Meanwhile, her brother, Vince is the creative director of

Preview Magazine.

Known as having close relationship with her sister, Laureen, and working

in the same industry, the younger one often mentioned Liz Uy as her guidance

with regards to fashion. She also shared that both of them still see each other

despite busy schedules, showing off the tightly knitted sibling love between the

two. With regards to her relationship with Vince Uy, she mentioned in one

interview that her brother is her number one critic; that his brother even scolds

her about her fashion choices that she wore to an event. As Liz said, “He only

wants the best for me.

Her parents who are bankers are extremely low-profile as they do not like

being in front of cameras like their children. However, because of their nature, Liz

shared that they keep her grounded and makes her feel that she’s an ordinary

person like others.

b. Education

She spent her high school years in a famous school in Manila that caters

Chinese Filipino – Grace Christian High School. After graduating, she continued

her studies at De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde and earned a degree on

Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management.

c. Early Experiences

Being a Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management graduate, she

hoped to become a restaurateur (restaurant entrepreneur) and a club owner.

Within her circle of friends, she’s the Fix-It Felix, Jr. She’s tagged as “Monica”

like the character in television series Friends. The reason behind all of these is

because she does the cooking, sewing, cleaning, washing the dishes, and even

designing her own place.

She also shared in one of her interviews that she started taking interest

on Fashion when she and her college boyfriend broke up. She started wearing

make-up and dressing up for events. Along with this incident, she also

discovered her passion for fashion when she started altering her chef uniform in

college. Apparently, she got bored with the plain uniform and she changed it bit

by bit according to her liking.

In 2004, she did a shoot for fun. With just ukay-ukay clothes, she asked

her brother to be the photographer and her friends, Kelly Misa and Anne Curtis to

be the models. And with the help of her brother who sent the photos to the

higher-ups of Preview magazine, she landed an interview. Right after the

interview, Pauline Suaco-Juan immediately asked her to start working for them.

In the span of six months, Liz was promoted from editorial assistant to associate

fashion editor. And within two years, she became the Fashion Editor.

In one of her interviews, she recalled that during her early experience as

an editorial assistant, she used to do all the fashion pages and all the products.

She would even conduct the shoot on her own like taking care of the models,

steaming and returning the clothes herself. She even mentioned that during her

times as editorial assistant, she hadn’t had personal assistant unlike the trend in

fashion industry nowadays.

d. Influences

Her fashion inspirations change over time. Currently, she’s into Carine

Roitfield, Anna Dello Russo, and Giovanna Battaglia. With regards to designer

brands, her favorite is Yves Saint Laurent.

However, her older brother, Vince Uy, was her major style influence while

growing up. Having a brother who was initially into fashion, she eventually

followed suit as her brother’s love for fashion rubbed off on her.

II. Analysis

How did this person become what she is?

I personally believe that she became a successful stylist because of hard

work and her compassionate nature. In such a competitive industry, she would not

go as far as she did if she hadn’t strived for it.

Though it could be argued that she only landed her first stylist job with her

brother’s help, it can be combated by the idea that her talent really showed in those

photos.

From what I’ve observed in her interviews, her major fashion influence is

her brother, Vince Uy. Having a brother who’s working in the fashion industry,

following him around made her see the beauty of fashion. Also, being acquainted

with her brother’s friends who are celebrities, she could possibly be influenced by

them to be interested in fashion.

Also, as mentioned in another section, her break-up from her college

boyfriend may probably a triggering factor to be into fashion as well. As what she

shared, she started dressing up and wearing make-up for events. This could be seen

as the first step into a being fashion stylist.

Looking at her stories and how she handles interviews, it’s pretty obvious

how down-to-earth Liz Uy is. She never brags her achievements and she just plainly.

This can be contributed from having low-key parents. Liz Uy probably did not suffer

any boastful attitude as her parents did not give her celebrity treatment. I believe

having parents like hers is a huge factor in maintaining a successful life. Being

grounded while experiencing success at the same time attracts more success in life.

And that’s probably the reason why Liz Uy remains to be one of the top celebrity

stylists of today.