Jose "Pitoy" Moreno is the best-known Filipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 fashion designer. Apart from being recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines

National Artist of the Philippines

A National Artist of the Philippines is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts...

 for Fashion Design in 2009, Moreno is internationally recognized as the "Fashion Czar of Asia". A former student at the University of the Philippines

University of the Philippines

The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...

, where he joined the Upsilon Sigma Phi

Upsilon Sigma Phi

-History:The Upsilon Sigma Phi is the oldest Greek-letter fraternity in Asia . Nebulously formed in 1918.It was formally organized on November 19, 1920 in a meeting held at the Metropolitan Restaurant in Intramuros. Four months later, on March 24, 1921, the Greek letters ΥΣΦ standing for the...

 fraternity, Moreno is one of the earliest advocates of the Maria Clara gown

Maria Clara gown

The Maria Clara gown is a traditional gown worn by women in the Philippines. This Filipino dress takes its name from María Clara, the mestiza protagonist of the national epic Noli Me Tangere, penned in 1890 by Filipino national hero José Rizal. It has been connected to the Maria Clara character...

. Moreno was the president of the Philippine Couture Association, the very first association of fashion designers in Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Moreno was the costume designer for the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company. His fashion designs were exhibited at the World’s Fair in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. His fashion designs appeared on the pages of fashion magazines such as Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

, Harper's Bazar, Holiday

Holiday (magazine)

Holiday was an American travel magazine published from 1946 to 1977. Originally published by the Curtis Publishing Company, Holidays circulation grew to over one million subscribers at its height....

, and Le Figaro

Le Figaro

Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...

, where Moreno introduced the words jusi, piña and lepanto to world fashion. Prominent people who were adorned by Moreno's beadwork, embroidery and hand-paintings included the First Ladies of the Philippines, Nancy Reagan

Nancy Reagan

Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....

, Pat Nixon

Pat Nixon

Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...

, Betty Ford

Betty Ford

Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford , better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford...

, Queen Sirikit of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Queen Margarretta of Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, Queen Sophia of Greece, Princess Margaret of Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Princess Suga of Japan, the Marquesa de Villaverde, María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco

María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco

María del Carmen Martínez-Bordiú y Franco is a Spanish aristocrat and social figure. Under Spanish law since 2006 she precedes her younger brother as heir to her mother's dukedom, and is eligible to be succeeded by and/or to cede that grandeza to her descendants.-Birth and youth:She was born in...

, Cristina Ford

Cristina Ford

Cristina Vettore Austin, who became commonly known as Cristina Ford or Mrs. Henry Ford II, was the second wife of former president, chairman, and chief executive officer of the Ford Motor Company Henry Ford II...

 (second wife of Henry Ford II

Henry Ford II

Henry Ford II , commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce", was the son of Edsel Ford and grandson of Henry Ford...

), Margot Fonteyn

Margot Fonteyn

Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...

, and Deeda Blair (Catherine "Deeda" Gerlach, wife of William McCormick Blair, Jr.

William McCormick Blair, Jr.

William McCormick Blair, Jr. served as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark from 1961 to 1964 and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines from 1964 until 1967. A lawyer, he also was a close associate of Adlai Stevenson....

). Moreno authored the books Kasalan, a fashion literature about Filipino wedding, and Philippine Costume, a book on traditional Filipino dresses.