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Michael Cinco on Dressing Kris Aquino in Crazy Rich Asians

Kris Aquino at the “Crazy Rich Asians” premiere. Getty

“I was so happy to see Kris Aquino wearing my creation in the film,” says Michael Cinco on dressing the Filipino actress in Crazy Rich Asians, which hit screens in the UAE this week. The Dubai-based designer, who has made a name of himself out of his opulent eveningwear, was approached by celebrity stylists Boop and Kimi Yap to design a gown for Aquino, who appears briefly in the film as a the untouchable Princess Intan. And he had only one month to create it. “After discussing the dress and exchanging ideas over the email, we finally decided on a look, and I had only two weeks to complete the dress,” the couturier recalls to Vogue.me. “Thankfully, I managed to finish it on time and when Aquino got the dress, she actually sent me a thank you note,” he adds.

Courtesy of Michael Cinco.

The result was a canary-colored, tulle and chiffon dress with a cape, featuring Calado embroidery, a traditional style of hand-embroidery from the Philippines. Cinco was specifically instructed to give the gown a touch of Asian royalty. “Her role is very brief, so they wanted her to make a stunning impact,” he explains. “The pattern and embroideries took approximately 80-hours to complete,” he reveals.

Courtesy of Michael Cinco

It’s not the first time that the designer was enlisted to use his impressive couture skills to create jaw-dropping designs for celebrities on the big screen. The Central Saint-Martins graduate has dressed everyone from Lady Gaga in American Horror Story and Mila Kunis in Jupiter Ascending to Beyoncé in the Haunted music video. “Creating costumes for movies and television shows is not new to me anymore but every time I see my designs on screen I always get emotional.”

Aquino also took to her official Instagram page to share an image of the design and to express her pride of being a Filipina. “This is the back shot of the gown i wore as Princess Intan in @crazyrichasians, created by @michael5inco who originally came from #Samar… i chose this picture as my last post before we fly home because for the rest of my life i shall look back at the experience of being part of @crazyrichasians as a turning point…” she wrote. “Seeing the proud, smiling faces of all our fellow Filipino Americans lining Hollywood Boulevard made me realize that the greatest gift this movie gave me was that it gave me that special opportunity to make us Filipinos feel good about ourselves & our contribution to the global workforce…”

The Filipina superstar has a well-documented track record for supporting homegrown designers. For the Crazy Rich Asians film premiere at California’s TCL Chinese Theatres on August 8, Aquino chose a yellow, floor-trailing design by Filipino designer Michael Levya.

Now Read: Why More is More for Dubai-Based Couturier Michael Cinco

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