Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

New York-based fashion accessories designer Rafael Felix (Rafe) Totengco’s foray into the fashion world began way early in his life. How early? How about fifth grade?

"It kind of happened accidentally," Rafe tells Balikbayan Magazine. Then we began a trip down memory lane and we ended up on the corner of fifth grade and awkward, in the city of smiles, Bacolod.

In the Philippines, when you go to mass every Sunday, you’re supposed to wear your Sunday’s best. When Rafe was young, he didn’t really care about clothing and he would just wear whatever he had. His sisters would be embarrassed and would tease him that he looks like the gardener’s son.

Rafe’s mother, in one of her trips to Manila, bought fabrics in Divisoria, gave it to him in a box and told him to go to the tailor and have stuff made. Off he went to the tailor but he didn’t realize back then that he could actually tell the tailor what to create for him.

He bought some fashion magazines and started looking at the illustrations. At that time, he says there was a magazine called Manila Women’s Wear and there was an incredible illustrator named Danilo Franco. He began tracing over Franco’s sketches because back then, he didn’t really know how to draw people. "I was in fifth grade and all I drew were horses, Voltes V, sharks. Then I thought, ‘What if take this pocket and put it here and this and that color would match," he recalls with a smile.

Rafe returned to the tailor with all his sketches and after a week, he had a whole new wardrobe. "I was like, ‘Hmmmm. Who cares about horses?’ It was a Eureka moment and that triggered my interest. At that point, I was buying Manila Women’s Wear every time it came out. I was obsessed with all those illustrations," he admits.

While his classmates in his fifth grade class played with toy robots and spiders, Rafe’s interest in fashion escalated. This was also the time when he began buying Vogue. Can you imagine, fifth grade in Bacolod, buying Vogue. There was only one department store there which carried Vogue and it was so expensive. Of course it was wrapped in plastic and you can’t just open it and look. You have to buy it!" he adds. The now celebrated designer never looked back.

Rafe ran Schizo, a clothing business in Manila until he was 21. In 1989, he moved to New York to pursue a career in fashion design. He enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and gained experience working as a design assistant.

In 1994, a Soho boutique asked him to produce a collection of belts and watch- bands. When they sold out instantly, the boutique requested for Rafe to design a grouping of handbags to sell alongside the small leather goods. One year later, the first collection of Rafe handbags debuted.

Over the years, Rafe Totengco has become one of the most acclaimed among the new generation of American designers, garnering awards and nominations from the Accessories Council, The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Fashion Group International and other award-giving bodies in the fashion industry.

year, Rafe opened his first Manila boutique at the posh Greenbelt 5. It was like a homecoming of sorts, as the Philippines welcomed him back with open arms. With the opening of this store, Rafe says his life has come full circle.

The Manila boutique, designed to mimic the brand’s New York City showroom, boasts baby blue damask patterned walls, rich chocolate brown floors and an eclectic mix of Asian antiques and vintage furniture. The free-standing store carries an edited collection of Rafe handbags, shoes and leather goods which are merchandised to epitomize the brand’s fun, chic aesthetic. In addition, Rafe will produce a collection of limited edition accessories especially for the boutique.

Owned by Ricco and Tina Ocampo, the husband and wife team behind multi-brand fashion boutique Mix, the store is a franchise that grew organically from the pair’s long-standing relationship with Totengco.

"Ricco and Tina have supported me from the very beginning" says Totengco. "From my early years in the Philippines to now, with the store. I couldn’t have imagined two better partners to work with on this endeavor."

Rafe has been going back to the Philippines quite regularly specially in the past few years. As a balikbayan himself, he hopes to come back a few more times than the usual.

"It is always fun for me to go back home and I really enjoy it because I get to see my old friends. I have Manila friends and Bacolod friends and the two groups don’t necessarily mix," he shares.

He admits though that it is the myriad of food choices that he misses the most. Among the comfort foods that he craves constantly is the chicken inasal from his native Bacolod.

For the past years that he has been going home and staying in Manila during his visits, he was always on the lookout for the authentic chicken inasal from his childhood.

During his past trip, he had a photo shoot and the night prior, he bumped into Joel Torre. Rafe told him that he was craving for some inasal. "I told him I was naglilihi, and he said, ‘I’ll deliver it to you.’ I was like, ‘Really?’" Rafe recalls.

Long story short, Torre (who operates JT Manukan Grille restaurants in Manila) delivered his famous chicken inasal to the studio where Rafe was shooting his spring campaign.

When the food arrived, they were still in the middle of the shoot and they had to stop to eat the chicken he has been craving for. "It was so good. It triggered a lot of my childhood memories and the friendships I have built," he quips.

The designer is thankful that despite his being away for so long, every time he comes home, he feels as if he never left. "That’s what’s so beautiful about the friendships that I have there," Rafe adds.

If and when he gets more time to travel, Rafe wants to explore more of the Philippines and visit Vigan, Bohol, Zamboanga, Palawan and other tourist spots in the country.

During our interview, we asked Rafe to play favorites, and here are excerpts of that conversation.

Costume Institute too.

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Originally published in Balikbayan April 2009 p.34 )