There must be something magical about being born and raised on the Oriental side of Negros Island. This magic even has a greater spell when one had lived “the days of our youth” around the Silliman campus in Dumaguete. This powerful nurture avenue has led many of our very own island dwellers into amazing journeys beyond Planet Silliman.
Consider the wonderful careers of these Silliman-bred alumni: virtuoso violinist Gilopez Kabayao, son of a Silliman orchestra pioneer, then became the first-ever Filipino musician to perform at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York; the Campus Choristers pioneer Priscilla Magdamo who became the soloist in two albums of the Grammy-award winning Gregg Smith Singers in the US; America’s ‘Artist of Tomorrow’ Paul Pfeiffer who won USA’s highest honor in visual arts from the Whitney Museum of American Art for having “deconstructed the visual language of pop spectacle to investigate how media images shape our perception of the world and ourselves”; Woodward Little Theater actor Junix Inocian who became an international stage performer in well-acclaimed productions such as Miss Saigon in London; the SU library work student Edmund Bendijo who became France’s ambassador of goodwill with his unfolding of lyric expressionism in the Visual Arts; the elementary school salutatorian Maria Taniguchi who went on to win the 2015 Hugo Boss award in Singapore, Asia’s highest recognition in the field of visual arts, and who remained among the Region’s best creative minds in conceptual art…
The list is long but for this diamond year of our beloved Dumaguete, my focus will be on US-based creative consultant John David Pfeiffer.
Many culture prime movers in Dumaguete are not aware that the man behind the angels on every Victoria’s Secret fashion show is actually a son of Dumaguete. To this day, John Pfeiffer considers Dumaguete as his Philippine home.
Dumaguete oldtimers remember John as the little boy running along the corridors of the Music School at Guy Hall looking for his mom, Ruth Imperial-Pfeiffer, in any of the piano rooms.
Fast forward to John Pfeiffer’s life after he left the Silliman campus:
At the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Kelsey Alaine Merritt, the first Filipina model to have made it as a ramp angel of this iconic show, introduced John Pfeiffer as casting director.
Both Kelsey and John Pfeiffer studied in the Philippines before moving to the US.
John Pfeiffer began his career in 1992 as a casting agent. He went on to forge his position at the heart of the New York modelling scene, while maintaining links to European fashion weeks, in particular Paris.
Pfeiffer’s US clients include designers Michael Kors, Donna Karan, Prabal Gurung, J. Mendel, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, and Diane von Furstenberg. In Paris, he has cast for designers Akris, Hussein Chalayan, John Galliano, and Christian Dior.
Describing his workload at the New York Fashion Week, John Pfeiffer told Style.com: “I have longer term relationships with many of the designers. For example with Michael Kors and Donna Karan, I’ve worked with them for about 10 years so the casting process is much easier. I know what they like, and what works for them. Laying the groundwork is important so that when you get into the week, as much as possible it’s already done. I see girls year round, I know the direction the designers are going. I don’t have big casting calls but the new girls do get a fair shake with me.”
In a feature on the Business of Fashion, John Pfeiffer advised new models: “Always walk around as much as possible. People are looking at you all the time. You never know what casting director or blogger will be around, so you always have to look the part.”
John says he always believes that to be a fashion icon takes more than just good looks and talents. Building a portfolio is a must: “Get all the experience you can get.”
John must have been trained well by his parents: his father William Pfeiffer was dean of the Music School, while his mother, Ruth Imperial, was one of the founders of the SU Campus Choristers.
The Pfeiffer home on Silliman campus was the missionary home on the lot where the William Barry Thomson Hall now stands.
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