Nena Saguil’s gift to Tetta Agustin is a highlight of Leon Gallery’s year-end offering, “The Kingly Treasures Auction,” happening this November 30 at 2 PM. When 24-year-old Tetta Agustin first flew from Manila to Rome in 1973, she had no idea she would land herself into one of the most illustrious fashion houses in Europe and in the annals of Philippine fashion history, no less, as the first Filipino to model for Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent in Paris. Standing five foot and seven inches, the aspiring model was deemed too petite for Rome’s fashion scene.
She had previously caught the eye of Italian designer Renato Balestra from her Manila modeling gigs, and he had urged the young model to test her luck in Rome. “When I went to see Emilio Pucci, he told me I was too petite for Rome fashion,” she told Philstar in 2012. “He told me to go to France because he was quite certain I would have more chance to work in Paris.
” Rome’s rejection turned out to be a redirection, as immediately after landing, she found herself at the Catherine Harley Modeling Agency and in front of Hubert de Givenchy himself. He was looking for an Asian model for his upcoming show, and, despite having signed on a Vietnamese model, one look at Tetta was enough for him to bump the prior model to sign her up on the spot. “I put on [Givenchy’s] dress,” she recalls in a 2018 Philippine Daily Inquirer interview, “then finally, he walked into the room, looked at me, and nodded me on [a.
