Salvacion was born on Jan. 28, 1922, in Legaspi, Albay, to a Chinese-Filipino family of artistic abilities. Her father painted and did calligraphy on his spare time while her mother was a frustrated architect who wove her own fabrics and designed and embroidered her own ternos (A Filipino National Dress). As a child, Salvacion began to exhibit artistic talents, which her mother encouraged. She moved to Manila before the outbreak of the war to study Fine Arts at University of Santo Tomas but she had begun sending her fashion sketches to The Manila Times with her now famous signature Slim , and when the newspaper ran her sketches, a career in fashion was born. A trip to Europe, where she had the opportunity to attend 22 couture shows, opened her eyes further. Slim counted among her clients the cream of the crop high society of that day yet she was not a snob and provided service to many brides who could not afford her. In 1960, together with her sister, she opened the Slims Fashion and Design School and thousand of aspiring designers including top designers of today studied.

Pink and charcoal gray piña cloth evening gown presented to Mamie Eisenhower by wife of Philippine president Carlos Garcia in 1958.

Smithsonian Institution Exhibit entitled “First Ladies: Political Role & Public Image”

Through her achievements which include a gown for US First Lady Mamie Eisenhower now part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian, Slim transformed the Filipino costume into a work of art. The Great SLIM!

The Book

A coffee table book published in November 2009 depicting works of the Great SLIM through her 40th Career in High Fashion.

It reflects the progressive disposition in which the work was originally envisioned, communicating with new and future generations of Filipino Designers.

Some of her Designs: