Esme Palaganas works in the intersection of creativity, culture and commerce. 

Esme Palaganas is the co-founder of the fashion initiative PHx Fashion Group and Strategic Advisor at ABLANKCD. She serves as a Board Advisor at London’s Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice, an ASEAN representative at UNCTAD eTrade for Women, and a Fellow at the Salzburg Global Seminar on Culture, Arts, and Artificial Intelligence.

A former fashion designer, Esme is a member of the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines and the youngest founding Board Advisor of the Philippine Fashion Coalition, where she led industry policy as its Policy Chairperson. She has also served as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at design schools and business universities in both Manila and London. Esme has contributed to publications such as The Philippine Star and Vogue Philippines on topics ranging from business and technology to creative management.

With an interest in the intersection of digital technology and creative enterprises, she completed a Master’s in Innovation, Creativity, and Leadership from City, University of London – Bayes Business School in 2023 as a Chevening Scholar, focusing on Web3’s impact on Creative Industries Management.

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Trained as a designer, she has presented in fashion shows and garnered awards in the Philippines and Malaysia.   

@esmewoldstudio

In leadership and management roles, she took charge of the Policy and Planning Committee at the Philippine Fashion Coalition, guiding efforts to pass the Creative Industries Development Act with Congress and Senate technical working groups. Under her leadership, the organisation secured a multi-year partnership with a higher education institution focusing on Creative Intellectual Property.  

Earlier, she led the Special Projects Committee during the organisation’s inaugural year, focusing on fundraising and member engagement. She’s also a council member at the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines, launching projects with public and private partners.

@philippinefashioncoalition www.philippinefashioncoalition.com 

Formerly a founder of an e-commerce venture with a portfolio of over 20 brands, illustrators and designers reaching markets such as Singapore, Japan, Italy, UK, US, Australia and the Philippines, she focused on growth strategy to boost the brand value, revenue and community engagement.

@basicmovement @basicmovementclub www.basicmovement.club

Currently, she is the CoFounder and President of PHx Fashion Group dedicated to producing events and activations focusing on Fashion Education and Market Incubation. With multidisciplinary partners both locally and internationally, the group highlights the relationship with creative and cultural industries.

As a Creative Industries Management and Marketing educator, she has guest lectured in design schools and business univeristies in the Philippines and United Kingdom. She is a contributing writer for Philippine Star and Vogue Philippines with articles focused on creative enterprises, culture and technology. 

@phxfashiongroup www.phxfashion.org