Inspiration comes from the inside out for renowned designers Rajo Laurel and Martin Bautista. Long-time friends and collaborators, they are kindred spirits who share the same language when it comes to their approach to their designs and their conviction that their garments should ultimately be wearable. They discuss with MEGA the merits of day offs, waking up early, and their hot takes on quiet luxury
This is an excerpt from the MEGA December 2024-January 2025 Designer Profile
CAN YOU SHARE WITH US HOW YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS WORKS? WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM?
MB: I like to travel. I like to read, watch, experience life. And when the time comes that I need to work on something. I try to just remember all of that and piece everything together so that when the work comes in, it looks very easy and effortless.
RL: The same thing. I think that designs really are another form of storytelling. So my process essentially is like compiling journals, and really trying to see. I carry notebooks around, and I, because I’m a very visual person, need to be able to see it in order for it to be translated into my work. So, everywhere I go, I have a little notebook, and I write little things. And then I transfer it into a bigger notebook. It’s essentially transferring experiences, jotting it down, and then from there, transferring it into whatever narrative. It was interesting because in our collaboration, I’ve always started from the outside in, and Martin taught me how to do a reverse. So my past few collections have been from the inside out. It’s an interesting exercise in creativity, wherein you don’t actually always have to look out to get inspiration. There’s inspiration everywhere, but the seeds of this in the process can alter and change, and I think that shift is something that’s very exciting when you’re able to create this really incredible shift in perspective, and that’s where it all often begins. But in my case, it’s always about the story.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PEOPLE WHO WEAR YOUR CREATIONS AND WHY DO YOU THINK THEY GRAVITATE TO YOUR WORK?
RL: Oh, my goodness. I’m drawn to a variety of personalities. Essentially, I love the fact that I can actually enhance and essentially highlight a particular facet of that personality. I’m drawn to very strong, intelligent, and a little bit feisty women. Of course I love simple girls too, but I’m more excited when there’s something, a little bit mataray. Those women are drawn to me also.
MB: I feel like it’s different this time. I’ve met so many different kinds of women, but nowadays I’m always looking for that kind of girl who would shop somewhere you don’t know. She doesn’t look like she’s into fashion, but something very interesting and odd. Girls who look like they don’t plan their outfits, like very easy and nonchalant.
RL: It’s very interesting also because we just came from our own personal shows, and, in my case, it was quite a different experience and trajectory, because I did menswear. It was so interesting because obviously my core clients are women, and I’ve opened this idea or this dialogue that this particular menswear can also be for women. So I’m getting a lot of interest. That was not my intention My intention was to make menswear, but the menswear essentially became attractive to women.
MB: There’s a shift also for women. I guess maybe they’re tired of seeing the same thing on the ramp. So it’s time to look at the men’s.
RL: So I guess, to answer your question, we’re also at this interesting crossroads, where although we have an idea of who we want to dress, we’re now open to dress up a bigger, more interesting, newer kind of client base.
WHAT DOES QUIET LUXURY MEAN TO YOU?
RL: Luxury, first of all, it’s a conundrum, because luxury in the Filipino context, has always been about more. It has always been about, you know, shine. But I think quiet luxury sometimes is not necessarily equated to material things. I mean, as I age what’s very luxurious is the ability to be able to take time out to tell yourself and your team and your family, like I think I need four days off, five days, not even longer than a week, just for myself, so that I can recharge. I think that’s so important. However, if you paraphrase that into design, I think quality, quiet luxury, is the ability to make your client feel exceptionally special. It’s not necessarily the dress, but the time you give to them. Because time is the most expensive commodity we have today. Everybody’s rushing. Everybody sort of wants everything now, but because we are still able to do the luxurious process of having things made for our clients, that’s bespoke. That’s one of a kind.
MB: For me, it has always existed before, and maybe we just don’t call it quiet luxury. More like the art of bespoke. I feel like it’s just like it’s a trend, it’s something that people talk about, but it’s always there. I actually don’t like the trend and the term.
RL: I don’t really latch on to it as a fashion term. I prefer it as an ideology. It is the basis of what a lot of people do. Like, for instance, if you if, let’s say, oh, quiet luxury is the row. Quiet luxury is Phoebe Philo. But that doesn’t really say anything, just because a t- shirt costs $4,000 made from the finest silk. But you know that there’s something deeper than that. So I think there’s something to be explored.
Read more of Rajo and Martin’s engaging conversation in MEGA’s December 2024-January 2025 issue , now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Photographed by RENZO NAVARRO. Fashion direction and styled by RYUJI SHIOMITSU. Creative Direction & Production JONES PALTENG. Makeup KATHY ORAN. Hair CATS DEL ROSARIO. Fashion Assistant ERICA TEROL. Styling Assistant MAXINE DELA CRUZ. Models JASMINE MAIERHOFER, TAKI SHIMADA, SURAJ AKU, and LORENZO RAFAEL.
