Puey Quiñones breaks silence on alleged "fashion scam"

Renowned Filipino fashion designer Puey Quiñones recently aired his side regarding the "suit scandal" that has been buzzing around the web.

"I was simply pressured to create a suit and found a perfect blank canvas to develop. I know the entire situation could have been handled better but now it has just been blown out of proportion and affected so many others." Quiñones told StyleBible.


Quiñones added that he is sorry to the couple whom he sold the suit to and "to everyone else that have raised concerns over the quality of (his) service as a designer."

He said he is "in contact with the party involved and (intends) to settle this peacefully."

Quiñones further said, "I am doing all that I can to make sure that this does not happen again."

The alleged "fashion scam" started when TV host Kat de Castro posted a 'status' on Twitter with a link to a picture of a double labeled beige suit (Bobon by Puey Quinones and Dansen labels) on February 14.

"The designer asked 30k for this suit. Pero bakit may Dansen tag? Sa SM ito di ba? Napeke kaya yung friend ko? (But why is there a Dansen tag? Isn't that from SM? Was my friend duped?)", de Castro Tweeted.

"The designer should really explain why was there a Dansen tag in his so-called original suit.", she added.

With less than 2 weeks left before the wedding, the designer said to have asked his client to return the suit and was willing to create a new one.

"Designer update: He asked my friend to give back the Dansen suit but also give him time to create a new one. Wow." de Castro posted on Twitter.

Shortly after the photo went viral on social networking sites and blogs, Bobon released a brief statement saying the "fashion scam" is "not a registered and official Bobon transaction."

"We wish to clarify that BOBON is not in any way involved in the design, production or sale of the suit in the photo, or the affixing of the 'BOBON by Puey Quinones' label to the suit.", Bonbon added.

The company said they used the label "Bobon by Puey Quinones" in 2008 but they already discontinued it more than a year ago and labeled all their pieces with "BOBON".

"We have used every effort to reclaim and destroy these old labels (Bobon by Puey Quinones). We are certain that this suit was not purchased by the owner from or through BOBON. All BOBON pieces are sold exclusively at or through the BOBON store at The Podium and we have no record of this transaction," the statement reads.

On February 17, Kat de Castro posted an update on Twitter again.

"My friend went straight to the designer, not Bobon." She said Quinones promised her friend "a refund, pero (but) two gives. Needless to say, my friend went to another designer for help.", according to de Castro.

"I never thought many people would react to it (the photo). All I wanted was to help a friend out. Sana hindi na mangyari ulit (I hope this doesn't happen again).", the TV host added.

Courtesy of Pep and StyleBible

Photo Credits: TheColourRed and Kat de Castro