rcxyb.com: 2 PINOYS IN WWD IN A WEEK (AND A DAY)

You have to forgive my lack of posts. The death of McQueen really affected me. Not that I am or I was personally close to the designer, it's just that the passing of one's fashion hero is very frustrating. This is exactly what I felt when Mcqueen's discoverer, stylist Isabella Blow passed away. The two Brits were and still are my heroes and without them, the crazy ones, add in the fact that their deaths are not of natural causes, I just feel lost and confused. Sometimes I ask myself if this craziness in fashion worth living? Or if time will come that, one day, I, myself, will snap out and might think that the end of the road less traveled leads to insanity or worse, weakened soul.
Unlike them though, I'd like to think that I'm a fighter. Things may get rough, I'm not the one who will easily give up.
Keeping myself busy for this project with Rajo and trips to the House of Laurel is what keep my spirit high. Listening to Rajo is like reading a Paolo Coelho book. Okay, that's an exaggeration. What I'm meaning to say is that seeing Rajo regularly is inspiring. It makes you want to be like him- bubbly, energetic, welcoming of very crazy ideas. I've heard a lot about him. Good and nasty things were said about him, but seeing him at work and his passion on every side projects that he does overpowered all the negativity and proved that the nasty words were mere rumors. As we all know, intrigue and fashion go hand in hand in this industry so that's a given. No one can truly please everyone. Someone has to say something about someone (and I plead guilty).
This is not the first time I've met Rajo but this is the first time I've said more than 'Hi' and 'Hello po'. My first encounter with the man was about 10 years ago when I was still in the wedding industry working as a wedding coordinator. My team brought a bride-to-be to his old atelier- then an ancestral 2-storey house converted into a shop. Seeing it grow to a 4-storey House with a capital H is truly inspiring. It makes me realize that, with proper management and right attitude, there is hope for local fashion designers to be as great. Spending time inside the well-designed House is overwhelming. There's inspiration everywhere. You get to see the designer at work, production managers in heels walking through and fro holding beautiful pieces of clothings, uniformed manangs in "I am a workaholic" shirts and aprons, racks of jewel-colored dresses, fashion books, (god, don't get me started on his wide collection of books), art pieces everywhere, from furniture to paintings. It's just overwhelming! And I'm just talking about the ground floor. The production floors are off limits but what i really want to see and hopefully spend a night in is the Archive Room- it's where all the Rajo Laurel coutures, gowns and rtw's from previous seasons are kept. It's paradise (for me, at least)! Hearing about the news that his dress landed on the cover of WWD and overhearing (this is an inside chika) that Lane Crawford has contacted him, confirmed my initial thoughts- there is a place for Philippine talent in the global fashion community.
Another beacon of hope is another Pinoy landing on the cover of today's WWD. Well, mentioned at least. Bryanboy's name was on the same newspaper and of course, we've all heard that he's one of the bloggers featured in U.S. Vogue's Power Issue.
TV Patrol may not think their successes are not news-worthy, but hey, it's putting Philippines on the fashion map- and it's not because someone shot Gianni Versace or anything like that.
Point of this post? Aim high. Do what you have to do and do it right. Haters may abound but when you are surrounded with friends and loved ones, you just get better.