View source for Salvacion Lim Higgins

{{Short description|Filipino fashion designer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Salvacion Lim Higgins
| image            = Salvacion Lim Higgins.jpg
| image_size       = 200px
| alt              =
| caption          = Lim-Higgins in 1983
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name       = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1920|1|28}}
| birth_place      = [[Legazpi, Albay]], [[Insular Government of the Philippine Islands]]. U.S.
| baptised         = <!-- will not display if birth_date is entered -->
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1990|9|15|1920|1|28}}
| death_place      = [[San Francisco]], [[California]], U.S.
| resting_place    =
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| citizenship      =
| education        =
| alma_mater       = [[University of Santo Tomas]] <br/> [[Traphagen School of Fashion]]
| known_for        =
| notable_works    =
| style            =
| movement         =
| spouse           = Hubbert Higgins
| partner          =
| children         = 2
| parents          =
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| mother           =
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| family           =
| awards           = {{nowrap|[[File:National_Artist_of_the_Philippines.svg|25px]] [[Order of National Artists of the Philippines]]}}
| elected          =
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| website          = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} -->
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}}
'''Salvacion Lim-Higgins''' (January 28, 1920 – September 15, 1990), also known professionally as '''Slim''', was a Filipino [[Fashion design|fashion designer]] known for her [[haute couture]]. She is considered by many Filipino culture critics to be the mother of the modern ''[[Maria Clara gown|terno]]''.
In 2022, she was posthumously conferred as a [[National Artist of the Philippines]], being the second fashion designer to receive the distinction following her contemporary [[Ramón Valera|Ramon Valera]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garcia |first=Joseph |date=June 13, 2022 |title=Fashion designer Salvacion Lim Higgins named National Artist |work=[[BusinessWorld]] |url=https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2022/06/13/454287/fashion-designer-salvacion-lim-higgins-named-national-artist/}}</ref>
==Early life and education==
Salvacion Lim-Higgins was born on January 28, 1920, to Luis Samson Lim Katiam and Margarita Navera Diaz.<ref name="dame">{{cite news |title=Dame of Philippine couture |url=http://varsitarian.net/news/20100126/dame_of_philippine_couture |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=Varsitarian |date=January 26, 2010}}</ref> Her father was a Chinese immigrant who was involved in the [[ship chandler]] industry while her mother was a housewife.<ref name="tatler">{{cite web |last1=Enriquez |first1=Marge C. |title=From The Archives: The Life And Times Of Salvacion Lim Higgins |url=https://www.tatlerasia.com/style/fashion/the-life-and-times-of-salvacion-lim-higgins |website=Tatler Asia |publisher=Tatler Asia Ltd. |language=en}}</ref> Salvacion had six other siblings.<ref name="dame"/>
A native of [[Legazpi City|Legazpi]],<ref name="dame"/> Lim went to Manila to study fine arts at the [[University of Santo Tomas]] (UST) and aimed to be a painter.<ref name="tatler"/> She had [[Botong Francisco]] as her mentor in UST.<ref name="centernary">{{cite news |title=On her 100th birth year, Salvacion Lim Higgins' legacy lives on |url=https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/355952/on-her-100th-birth-year-salvacion-lim-higgins-legacy-lives-on/ |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=Inquirer Lifestyle |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=January 24, 2020}}</ref> Her studies was disrupted by [[World War II]].<ref name="dame"/>
She would later enroll at the Traphagen School of Design in New York before returning to the Philippines in 1952.<ref name="dame"/>
==Career==
[[World War II]] led her to pursue a more practical career in fashion design. After the end of the war, while waiting for school to resume, she sent sketches of her fashion design to the ''[[Manila Times]]'', and began going by the trade name "Slim". Along with her elder sister Purificacion and family friend Consuelo Barberan, Slim would set up a fashion design shop in [[Malate, Manila|Manila]] in 1947 which later moved along to what is now [[Taft Avenue]].<ref name="dame"/> Slim, would be heavily influenced by [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] culture of the 1950s and 1960s and would frequent Europe and New York to study fashion collections, learn techniques, and buy [[designer clothes]] to further improve her craft.<ref name="tatler"/>
In 1960, Slim and Purificacion founded the Slim's Fashion and Art school, the first fashion school in the Philippines.<ref name="centernary"/><ref name="dame">{{cite news |title=Dame of Philippine couture |url=http://varsitarian.net/news/20100126/dame_of_philippine_couture |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=Varsitarian |date=January 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Moral |first1=Cheche |title=Millennials Channel Salvacion Lim Higgins Via Slim's |url=https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/philippine-daily-inquirer-1109/20171201/282488594050931 |access-date=June 12, 2022 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=December 1, 2017}}</ref>
Slim briefly retired to become a housewife after getting married in the 1960s but came out of retirement in the mid-1970s. She would open her second shop along [[Amorsolo Street]].<ref name="tatler"/>
==Illness and death==
Lim would be diagnosed with [[lung cancer]] in the mid-1980s despite being a non-smoker.<ref name="tatler"/> She died on September 15, 1990.<ref name="dame"/>
==Legacy==
Lim would be known for reinventing the ''[[Maria Clara gown|terno]]''.<ref name="centernary"/> She was posthumously recognized as a [[National Artist of the Philippines]] in June 2022.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nora Aunor, Ricky Lee, Tony Mabesa among 8 new National Artists |url=https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-culture/national-artists-philippines-2022/ |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=Rappler |date=June 10, 2022}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Lim was married to Hubert Higgins, an [[Irish people|Irish]] [[expatriate]] in the Philippines, with whom they had two children. They married in 1960 when Lim was 40 years old and Higgins was 47.<ref name="tatler"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jamora-Garceau |first1=Therese |title=In the studio with Mark Higgins: Mixing history with fun and vibrant colors |url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/modern-living/2019/07/27/1938096/studio-mark-higgins-mixing-history-fun-and-vibrant-colors |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=The Philippine Star |date=July 27, 2019}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{National Artists of the Philippines}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim-Higgins, Salvacion}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Santo Tomas alumni]]
[[Category:Filipino fashion designers]]
[[Category:National Artists of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Filipino people of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:People from Legazpi, Albay]]