Entertainment
The OG It Girls on Style, Influence, and What "It" Really Means Now
As Preview turns 30, the 2010s It Girls look back on the era they helped define.
Published on Jul 8, 2025
In June 2012, Preview's 17th anniversary cover brought together five women whose names would become synonymous with a generation: Georgina Wilson, Isabelle Daza, Anne Curtis, Solenn Heussaff, and Liz Uy.
Dressed in gymnastics-inspired designer looks in time for the 2012 London Olympics, the shoot captured the energy of the moment—not just in fashion, but in Filipino pop culture. That same day, a playful backstage video set to Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe unexpectedly went viral, amplifying the era-defining appeal of the now-iconic It Girls.
ADVERTISEMENT
Click to Enlarge
Preview's June 2012 cover featuring the It Girls.
More than a decade later, the label still lingers, though its meaning has evolved. In celebration of Preview’s 30th anniversary and the Preview 30 Icons, the original It Girls look back on a moment in time that shaped their identities, and reflect on how they’ve grown beyond it.
The OG It Girls Reflect on the “It Girl” Era for Preview 30 Icons
Georgina Wilson admits that it took her years to embrace the title, but now, with the clarity that comes from distance, she wears it with pride. After all, it helped lay the foundation for her to build a name beyond the spotlight. “I think, after 20 years, it’s time to start feeling comfortable with this title—and honestly, so grateful that I’ve had so much love for so long, and it has paved the way for me to build my brand, Sunnies,” she says.
Click to Enlarge
Georgina Wilson for Preview 30 Icons (PHOTO: Alan Segui).
For Sunnies' co-founder and creative director Martine Cajucom-Ho, being an “It Girl” was really about authenticity. A longtime Preview favorite, she was once named one of the country’s Best Dressed and later landed her first magazine cover with the title. “Over the years, I’ve seen it evolve from being about personal style to being about substance: what you stand for, what you create,” she says.
Click to Enlarge
Martine Cajucom-Ho for Preview 30 Icons (PHOTO: Alan Segui).
That fusion of personality, creativity, and visibility defined the era for stylist and former Preview editor Liz Uy as well. At the time, being called an It Girl was fun, even playful. But looking back, she sees how it also marked a shift in how women expressed themselves publicly. “It reflected a moment when individuality, style, and friendship came together in a way that really connected with people,” she says. The now-viral Call Me Maybe video shot during their Preview cover shoot encapsulated that perfectly. “It wasn’t just about us—it was about a shift in how women were expressing themselves, and Preview captured that beautifully.”
Click to Enlarge
Liz Uy for Preview 30 Icons (PHOTO: Alan Segui).
If anyone questioned the label at the time, it was Isabelle Daza. “It was almost kind of silly for us to have a group name that we did not come up with,” she laughs. “People just named us that.” Still, they embraced it and even tried to live up to it. For Isabelle, being an It Girl came with a silent set of expectations: to be stylish, culturally aware, outspoken, and more than just a pretty face. “That label really helped us grow in our careers. Even now, they still call us It Girls—but we’re It Moms now.”
Click to Enlarge
Isabelle Daza for Preview 30 Icons (PHOTO: Alan Segui).
Motherhood, she says, brought a new kind of honesty and a deeper connection to herself. “[When I’m] in bed with my three kids, reading a story to them—[I feel like] this is what I’m meant to do. That’s my happiest,” she says. “Everything else is just an additional blessing.”
Solenn Heussaff perhaps never fully subscribed to the title at all. “Actually, I think you guys gave us the name,” she says, pertaining to how Preview coined the term. “And I never understood it.” To her, hard work was always the defining trait. “If you're a go-getter and you know what you want and you work hard for it, then you're your own It Person.”
Click to Enlarge
Solenn Heussaff for Preview 30 Icons (PHOTO: Alan Segui).
Like Isabelle, Solenn has come to find a different kind of fulfillment in motherhood. These days, she values balance over hustle. Most of her time is spent at home, painting and raising her two young children. “Now I'm earning through my paintings and through other things. I still do social media, but I control my time,” she says. “I don't have to prove my worth to anyone.”
But even in the stillness, she remains intentional. “[I want my kids] to look up to me and say, ‘My mom's a hardworking mom,’” Solenn says. “So again, there's always that balance.”
The pressure that came with visibility wasn’t always obvious to them at the time. “I was never conscious of that type of influence,” Isabelle reflects. “I was always trying to make a name for myself, do better, and create my own kind of path.”
Only when the influencer era took over did she begin to understand the weight of a public persona—and the limitations of one. “People just always saw you as this very perfect, aspirational person. They didn’t know the rest of my personality,” she says. “Another good thing about social media is you’re able to express yourself and tell your own story at your own pace. I tell a lot of jokes. And it’s not just this one aspect of this perfect It Girl that I was given the title for.”
Call it timing, chemistry, or just cultural relevance, but the label stuck. It evolved, stretched, and outgrew its original frame, but never quite disappeared. “It’s really just about being fully yourself,” says Martine. “And letting the work speak for itself.”
Kat is Preview's Lifestyle Editor, explorer, and occasional rhymer. When not globe-trotting, she's over her computer, writing her next big novel.