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Don’t ask us why we always end up in the company of jocks—it’s not entirely by choice (Think Fremen encountering Sardaukar) but we’re not complaining. Our friend Jay Lozada was doing make-up for the Due/Collezione fashion show at the Peninsula Manila yesterday. We needed a place to sit and write a column so we invited ourselves to Rhett Eala’s suite.

James and Phil Younghusband of the Philippine national football team the Azkals are the endorsers of Collezione C2. “They’re wonderful endorsers,” says Due/Collezione designer Rhett Eala, “very supportive of the brand.”

We noticed from his running commentary while the Chevy Chase movie Fletch was on TV that James knows a lot about movies. He is watching the TV series Walking Dead. Phil was pleased at his Meralco team’s 15-1 victory over Team Socceroo. He made 7 goals. (When Jay mentioned that the Azkals were playing the Brazilians we fell out of our seats. What he meant was that Meralco, whose lineup includes Azkals, was playing Socceroo, whose lineup includes Brazilian models. Ah.)

According to Rhett the Collezione C2 Holiday Collection is inspired by the Himalayas. They’ve been on his mind since his friends went trekking in Bhutan. And recently he saw the Michael Palin TV series Himalaya again. (No, he has not seen Lost Horizon recently. Last Song Syndrome: Living together, growing together…)

The result of the Himalayan fixation: plenty of outfits in olive and neutral colors, with bursts of orange. They look like clothes for cold weather, but they’re in light fabrics like cotton and linen.

Guest models Anton del Rosario and Nathan Burkey of the Azkals walked the ramp in dropped crotch pants. During the preparations there was some discussion over whether they were supposed to smile or look serious (Blue Steel/Le Tigre). During the show my seatmate noted that all the male models looked like it was a terrific hassle and all the female models looked like they were angry at us. Ah, fashion.

Will the average Filipino guy take to dropped crotch pants? We’d like to know. We can tell you they’re more aesthetically pleasing than huge baggy pants worn so low you see butt cracks. These pants look like a cross between skinny jeans and the harem pants of the M.C. Hammer era. (LSS: Dun dun dun dun can’t touch this.)

James looks like a schoolboy who’s wandered off during a class field trip in Tibet.

Phil’s trousers would not work on a guy with hips.

Good work, Rhett and the Due/Collezione team, and thanks for the vodka! The Holiday Collection is now available at the Due stores in Rockwell, Eastwood and Greenbelt 5, and at the many Collezione C2 outlets.

You have to see Black Narcissus, the 1947 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger about British nuns in the Himalayas.