Mega Man

They say that it’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world. Despite this, Drake Dustin Ibay and his team have managed to unravel a leading fine diamond jewelry brand right from the embers of their own passions. Endorsed by the likes of Ivana Alawi and Rabiya Mateo, LVNA By Drake Dustin’s rise is no fluke, and its 30-year old founder made sure to sit down with MEGA Man to tell the brand’s five-year story, uncanny leadership, and unflinching future. FROM UNLIKELY ORIGINS While most jewelers are known for their traditional roots, Drake Dustin Ibay built the foundations of LVNA on a sturdy ground of love for jewelry and a sound business model. Before accessorizing the biggest names in the industry, Drake was a fervent student of art, photography,…

It was a poignant and powerful moment as models walked the runway enveloped in pieces from “Louis Dreamhouse,” the last collection of the late and great Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton. While the mood was a luculent tribute to Abloh, the scene was a dithyramb—a glaring “thank you” to the house’s first African-American creative director, who reveled in the extraordinary and dreamlike concoctions. Under Abloh’s wing, Louis Vuitton turned further into a space that accepted deviations and unlikely kinships: peaked-shoulder blazers, masterful yet playful suits in jewel tones, sheer fabric, the loose and insouciant tailoring of streetwear, and accessories that refuse to be ignored. Then, there were white clothing attached to white wings, and pieces that bore the works of painters. In his lifetime, Abloh invented words, like “maintainamorphosis” (the…