I have just arrived back in London, my second home and my favorite city in the world. My love affair with London began even before I was born — my parents were both complete anglophiles, having honeymooned in London. They loved it so much that they modeled their dream home after an English country home, brick roof and all. My father established his reinsurance business with British partners, which my mother eventually took over after his passing, which kind of gave us an excuse to keep coming back to London when that business was still going.
I first came to London when I was 13 on holiday, but I really started to love it on my second trip there for a month with my mom and my stepfather just after I turned 18. I was in college then and had just begun my whole clothing design hobby and developed an interest in fashion. I remember visiting Central Saint Martins and excitedly taking photos outside in my Hello Kitty kimono and my Warp skirt, dreaming that, one day, I would study there. I took home copies of i-D, British Vogue and The Face and defined success as being in those pages. I visited the Vivienne Westwood store and wished I’d someday own a pair of rocking horse shoes and maybe even meet her. I walked around and window-shopped and imagined that things I made would one day be in those shop windows. I daydreamed about having a life in London and having a dapper English boyfriend who loved music and art and film like I did and would take me to things and hold my hand.
Back then, I thought these things would never happen; they were just my British dreams. At that point I thought I’d only have a life in London if I succumbed to a life behind a desk in reinsurance. And yet somehow, thanks to a supportive mom who allowed me to make my own choices in life, these dreams slowly came true. I have a life here now — friends I love, regular haunts, traditions, and a label that is slowly getting noticed. Eleven years ago I was thrilled about scoring an internship with Marjan Pejoski and working backstage at his show, and now I find myself here preparing for my first exhibition at London Fashion Week. If this isn’t proof that faith and dreams and hard work can bring you far, then I don’t know what is. (Now if only I had infinite amounts of cash to speed up the process!)
It’s been more than two years of me splitting my time between London and Manila, and I admit, I’ve always used my “business” as an excuse for me to go here as I couldn’t bear to think of not coming back. At first it was the endless studying, then it was researching at the fashion weeks, and now it’s actually being at Somerset House and legitimately being part of it all. When people ask me how work is going, I always say that if I had been content with a business based solely in Manila, then I’d probably be a lot richer. But the thing is, that was never my dream. I’ve always wanted to be here and I’ve always dreamed of being global so even if it means less sleep, less money and less luxury in my life, I’m still going to keep at it.
In the early days of coming here, I used to stick my head out the window of my cab each time I returned — the air seemed to be so magical to me. There was such a sense of promise and excitement. I guess like anything that becomes routine, the magic has worn off and coming back here has become quite ordinary, but I still find myself rolling the window down each drive into the city from Heathrow and taking deep breaths. It’s good to be back. It always is.
* * *
Mich Dulce would like to thank the British Council Philippines, British Airways, Velprint, Samsung, HP, MAC Cosmetics,
Everywhere We Shoot and Inksurge for their support for Mich Dulce Spring/Summer 2013 at London Fashion Week.