Patrice Josephine “PJ” Gepilano is a fashion model, fashion designer, and beauty pageant participant. She was raised in Maasin City, Southern Leyte. She currently resides in Cebu City and works as an associate for an airline company.
PJ’s passion for fashion designing dates back to her childhood. It began when she attempted to draw Cinderella’s gown and never stopped until she drew it perfectly. Since then, she has developed her designing skills as a character sketcher which she then creates original concepts. Her fascination continues to lie in designing beautiful gowns and sometimes cosplay wardbrobe collections. She continues to pursue the mastery of her craft in fashion designing as she moves forward.
As a trans woman, she shares these valuable thoughts and insight: “As a trans woman, discrimination, prejudices, dysphoria and stereotyping are part of my everyday life and I successfully endure it every single day. The strength of a trans woman is invincible. The lesson I want to impart to other people, not just to women, but to everybody is: Be the best version of you by being strong with whatever comes your way. Being a woman is not something we desired when we were born; rather, being a woman is something that was already built in our minds and hearts. I want everybody to understand that we are more than just trans women; we are human beings and deserve to be respected, loved, and given equal opportunities just like everybody else in this world.”
You can view more of PJ’s fashion and modeling on her Instagram page @patricejosephine.
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Art Pairing
Slicing Tomatoes 