‘The American Dream’ is all about taking a risk and having the courage to go for it

The TOYM award is a validation. The feeling is different from when I won the ACE Accessories Designer of the Year Award, or when I was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America. When you’re recognized abroad it’s about being regarded by the likes of other designers like Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, etc. It’s about being scrutinized and asked, "Are you good enough to be one of us?"

But to be awarded the TOYM is a greater thing altogether. Now, I’m recognized as a Filipino. I’m not just a bag designer, I’m a Filipino who has accomplished something.

The accomplishment, I suppose, is that I’ve shown that the fashion industry is an important industry. Perhaps people didn’t take it seriously before, and now they are. There’s a lot of money and labor in it, after all!

Most of all, I’m glad that my achievement has inspired other people to follow suit. Kate Spade, for one, started the whole trend. She took a simple black nylon bag and took it to the next level. When I first saw her stuff I asked myself, "If she could do it, then why can’t I? It’s the American Dream."

The American Dream is all about taking a risk, and having the courage and perseverance to go for it. In my case, I was lucky to have been surrounded by the right people who shared in my vision.

Now, I have nine people in my company. It’s a small, tight ship. My mother is my bookkeeper, my sister Tessa is in charge of sales, and my partner, operations.

We’re ready for the next step, and that’s expansion. We need to do it. We’re preparing our company to the next wave of investments. We’ve been approached by all sorts, so now it’s about finding the right partner.

We want an investor who’s ready to take a risk, who understands the industry and how it works. But you know what? That investor should know that it’s not that big a risk simply because I’m very, very determined to succeed. I’ve gone this far with very little, I’m going to go further with just as little. Or as much!

I’m thinking big. Eventually, I hope to go back to clothing, and reintroduce my point of view on lifestyle.

That could be interesting because that’s how my being Filipino would come through.

Filipino ingenuity is our biggest asset when it comes to developing our industry. We have all these influences in our culture, and it shows. Our passion comes through.

But going global, for me, is just about one thing: Go and see the world! Travel! Understand why Parisiennes do it this way, why Milanese women do it that way, why Tokyo people dress like that. See the colors of India, of Morocco, of Bohol! It’s not enough to look at pictures; you have to be there. Everything can be a reference for something. Question, understand, smell the sea, use your imagination. Sometimes you have to leave the comforts of home and your sheltered life.

I think about whether it’s a sad thing to have had to leave the Philippines just to make it. But then again, I had to be in the right environment, at the right time, to have done all that. New York is my home now, and it has been since I first stepped in there 13 years ago. But I will never forget my country.

I don’t really feel like I’m a success. It’s weird when people tell me that. There’s still so much more I want to do! I don’t think I’ve really made it yet, and to this day I still feel the ups and downs of being in this business. Every day there are new problems. But I’m glad my family is there to keep me grounded. It will never get to my head.

So if it is true that I have inspired other people, that I have helped the local industry in one way or another, then that’s great.

If I can say that I’ve done that, well, then I can say that I do deserve the TOYM award. And that makes me very happy. – As told to Paula C. Nocon