Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria. This intriguing first sentence of Paulo Coelho’s novel Eleven Minutes propelled one of the emerging designers in this year’s Preview’s Ten Designers to Watch to come up with a leather, lace, and velvet collection that is at once sacred (meticulously crafted) and profane (devilishly sexy).

“I was so uninspired at the early stages of developing my collection until I landed my hands on Eleven Minutes. The very first sentence sparked the inspiration for my collection. The dominatrix, the mistress, she who intimidates you with her mere presence, capable of humiliating and punishing without pity. The ultimate femme fatale—she is the inspiration for this collection.”

Jaz, who first captured the public eye in her stint at Project Runway Philippines, again reminded Manila’s fashion audience in May of this year of her skill for celebrating a woman’s sensuousness. Fashioned “mostly in leather, a few lace ensembles, hints of velvet” and using  “no complicated treatments or techniques, just basic corseting and good tailoring,” her 10-piece repertoire for Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2010 was proclaimed by Preview as one of the event’s best collections in it's August 2010 issue. It was designed for “a woman who is confident and a go-getter,” who “knows what she wants and knows how to get it.”

She explains that her design aesthetic “always celebrates femininity,” and that her PFW Holiday 2010 collection was an embodiment of that. It “embraces a woman's figure and has that sensual sophistication and tasteful elegance.” She says that she felt it was the right time for her to “step away from the Prim and Proper,” so she “went for Bold and Strong instead.” Thus came a sultry lineup where she focused heavily on texture: “I wanted the materials to represent the attributes of a woman. Leather being strong, lace being seductive, and velvet being plush.”

With such a keen awareness of women’s sensuality and the deft talent to execute her creative imaginings, Jaz definitely is one designer whose design fantasies we wouldn't mind surrendering to.

Read on to find out more about her, and click on the photo gallery to see her collection for Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2010, Venus in Black.

Click here to view her Designer Directory.

Click here to watch her Designer Spotlight video.

Click here to view her crystal-themed collection for PEFTA.