Martine Cajucom-Ho

Influence today is often defined in terms of building a brand on social media. This is something that Martine Cajucom-Ho—who is the creative director of the hugely successful homegrown brand Sunnies and, herself, an influencer with a distinct brand—knows perfectly well.

Born in the Philippines and raised in California, Cajucom-Ho first rose to prominence locally as an 'it girl' alongside her cousins Georgina Wilson and Isabelle Daza. While in the US, she worked in the creative arm of American Apparel, where she picked up some of the skills that she would apply at Sunnies by Charlie—a brand she co-founded in 2013 with Wilson and model-slash-entrepreneur Bea Soriano-Dee. Now known as just Sunnies, the brand has become a nationwide hit and a millennial branding success story, with lines of eyewear and cosmetics and its own café. And because branding was crucial to the business model, much of Sunnies’ success is owed to Cajucom-Ho’s creative direction.