Bravo, Mobo!

It is the evening after the “Bravo Filipino” fashion show featuring Lesley Mobo, acclaimed designer for the Jasmine de Milo line of Harrods Department Store. For the first time, after nine years in London, Lesley shared his work with his fellow Filipinos. More than a tribute to Filipino talent, Lesley’s fashion show was a homecoming, a welcoming back of one of Manila’s sons to his roots.

I am invited to have drinks with The Triumvirate that put this event together  — Lesley Mobo, fashion show director Ariel Lozada and space design consultant Rodney Alday. What I thought would be a glitzy victory party turned out to be an intimate, low-key celebration of each other’s accomplishments, set in an atmosphere of warmth and sincere fondness that only long-time friends can bask in. The laughter and revelry can easily make one feel like an outsider, but I find myself enveloped in the closeness and camaraderie. Though it is only Ariel that I know personally, it doesn’t matter. The evident affection, deep admiration for each other’s work, unselfish desire for each other’s success and recognition are contagious and welcoming to anyone. Lesley, Ariel and Rodney were overflowing with stories and emotion, eager to share their history and the events that brought them together for this momentous fashion show.

This kinship started some eight years ago when they first met in London. Lesley was still a student at Central St. Martins working as a dresser for a Jojie Lloren fashion show. Ariel was then in London to do a fashion presentation.

Lesley smiles as he pulls out this memory: “I heard about Ariel even before I met him. I was told that he was a brilliant fashion-show director whose creative style was fresh and unconventional and that I had to meet him. Rodney was then studying architecture. We were both Filipino students, living in London. Over the many years and countless visits that I would make to Manila or Ariel to London, the three of us became friends.”

 It is perhaps fated that the three never had a chance to formally work together in the full professional and business sense of the word until now.

“They say that there are certain phone calls that just change your life or start a series of events that will lead to an amazing, memorable experience,” Lesley explains. That was the call that I got from Sofia Zobel last November. She told me about the Bravo Filipino project to showcase Filipino talent and wanted me to be part of it.” 

It was the most natural thing for Lesley to discuss the idea with Ariel.

“We just talked about it and threw some ideas back and forth, we didn’t plan anything, but that was the start of it ... I think that is the most amazing thing about this whole experience, how it just came together in the unpredictable but totally right way that life kind of does when you allow it to,” says Lesley.

Ariel Lozada agrees. “In December, I decided to spend my holiday in Europe. I usually spend my Christmas and New Year in Asia or in the US, but last year, I decided to spend it in Europe, and we talked about the idea even more. Actually, the idea of putting up a show for Lesley was not new. We thought about it as far back as three years ago, but it just wasn’t the right time. It wasn’t anything like this where things just came together. We decided to involve Rodney for space design and that was it — that sent the wheels turning and turning.”

Lesley already had a vision is his mind for his show. This concept was inspired by the Matavenero village in Northwest Spain, in Monte de Leon. In this place, there are no roads or internal combustion engines, so it is pristinely quiet. Most of the villagers live in eco-homes constructed from wood and salvaged or local materials, or in renovated old cottages. These eco-homes are usually round, eight-sided or polygonal. The village and its people are the epitome of sustainable eco-village living and the work, perseverance, positive thinking, and sheer imagination required to make living on the edge of nature a day to day reality.

There was some apprehension, of course, about working with friends. Ariel confides, “All these years that we have known each other, we have never worked together on a project like this — as in worked together. I was worried our friendship would suffer or our own individual working styles would clash. It was one thing to occasionally consult one another on small projects, but to work on actually putting something together was different. I wondered if I could be myself.”

Lesley interjects and laughs, “But I knew that there was no one else that I would entrust this project to. It was only Ariel and Rodney. I just didn’t know if they had the time to take this on considering their many commitments — Ariel with his lineup of shows and Rodney with his building contract requirements in London. I mean, we’re living in different cities, you know!”

It turns out that he didn’t even have to ask. Ariel and Rodney, without question, wanted to be part of this show and make it happen.

Lesley, in his signature self-effacing, unassuming way, says that he was surprised by the show of support from his friends. “I was overwhelmed. People called me because they wanted to be part of the project. Patrick Rosas called me from Manila to tell me only one thing: ‘O, ako gagawa ng makeup mo for the show.”  I had no one else in mind to do the makeup except Patrick also, but again, I didn’t know if he could do it. It turns out that he wanted to. It was incredible.  Nandiyan na sila lahat gustong tumulong.”

All the apprehension disappeared and was quickly replaced by the excitement of putting ideas together. The ideas started to flow even through the holidays and while they were on vacation. “Rodney and I were in Scotland, Lesley was in Portugal and we would still be texting each other at all hours of the day! Yes, despite the different time zones, basta may maisipan, magte-text kami!” says Ariel.

Rodney agrees, “It was like the Bermuda Triangle this exchanging of ideas. And yes, text messaging was enough.  We’re so attuned to each other’s thoughts that even the cryptic messages on text were sufficient for us to have a basic understanding of what we had in mind. We complemented each other, we were all fueled by the rich images of the Matavenero village and the values of its people.”

Rodney remembers how he would bring scale models of the stage design wrapped in whatever paper bag he could find to their meetings over lunch and coffee in the various nooks of London. “We had to make the most out of the time that Ariel would be in London!”

Lesley provided the backbone for the concept inspired by the Matavenero village and the other two, quite simply, played with it. The village houses and their polygon shape are the same installation used for the show’s stage design and layout. Rodney took the original concept and flew with it, making his own interpretations in space design while Ariel would provide the pragmatism needed to execute and make this concept alive. Their efforts put together, literally, breathed life into this concept and made it alive, molding it into something that the audience could see and feel — a form which they could relate to and be touched by in the way that they were also touched. With this enthusiasm, it is no surprise that the project took on a life of its own and was elevated to a higher purpose.

Lesley Mobo himself and his story is representative of a lot of other Filipinos who chased their dreams armed only with their talent, their tenacity and the love of their families. It is the same spirit you see in many Filipinos, like the OFW who goes abroad, for example. Lesley is proof that by simply dreaming, you are already starting the process by which you can make your dream come true.  The Lesley Mobo fashion show became a representation of these values and the friendships that give talent a soul, an emotion. Talent is nothing without the power to touch and inspire others.

This is where working with friends who shared the same vision played a pivotal role. It was more than teamwork, it was the traditional characteristic of bayanihan. The affinity that nurtures an environment that was encouraging, stimulating and yet comforting because there was no room for egos. “We were all brought together by this vision of how this project could serve as an inspiration to others. That was bigger than all of us,” Ariel shares.

As the show drew closer, there was the expected tension and last-minute chaos, but the onslaught of emotion just drew them together.

Ariel reveals, “We would call each other late at night knowing that we were still working on the various aspects of the show that we were responsible for just to say, ‘Matulog ka na!’”

“I always think of how I’m still nervous about each show. I don’t look for that feeling to go away. I need it. It’s like in a relationship — you need shivers to keep it going. It was harder and harder to keep the intensity of that feeling show after show, year after year. It is a constant battle to look for inspiration. I have Lesley to thank for giving that meaning back to me and in a way that I could not begin to imagine. It was incredible … electrifying,” Ariel continues, his voice cracking in between tears and laughter.

“We were all crying! For me, it was the first time to see my ideas executed in a fashion show. For Lesley, it was the first time he was sharing his fashion, his talent with our countrymen. His work has been in featured in Vogue, has been lauded by Diesel, but never brought home,” Rodney shares.

The accolades and reviews have started coming in, but Lesley remains unfazed. To him, the best reward was to see his family share in the high of the moment. Lesley’s entire family — his mom, dad, only brother and various relatives — flew in from Aklan to watch the show. “I could feel my mom’s happiness. She is equally part of all of this. She always believed that I could make something out of myself. Tingin pa rin nya, maliit na bata pa rin ako. Mahirap makapaniwala na we’ve come a long way from that dress that she helped me make out of seashells she picked up one by one from the beach.”

Indeed, the little boy from Aklan has grown up, has come a long way, but has never forgotten to look back on where he came from with gratitude.

Bravo, Lesley. Bravo, Ariel. Bravo, Rodney.

Bravo Filipino.