From the small fashion community in the Queen City of the South, designers Cary Santiago and Axel Que have become epitomes of art, imagination, and one-of-a-kind beauty not just for Cebu but for the Philippines as well
This Designer Profile is an excerpt from MEGA’s October 2024 Issue
When did your fashion journey start? What is your design ideology or fashion identity?
AQ: It started when I was a high school student. My friends and I were checking out bookstores to see some magazines, and ever since that day I kept on buying until my obsession with fashion hit me. My fashion identity is a mixture of avante-garde silhouettes and following the flow of nature as details.
CS: My mother was a kosturera so she makes clothes. She’s the designer of the community. I was born in 1971, so around that time ilan palang ang mga designers, unlike now. But, the fine few in our community? Ang liit. I was not aware that I was trained by my mom at a very young age to become a designer. Professionally, I think at 15 I was already working. I was so eager to be called a fashion designer because of my environment. I wanted my designs to come to life. I worked for an RTW company so I was already earning. At the age of 24, I already opened my own atelier. I was so passionate about what I do because of the environment that I grew up in.
Can you share with us how your creative process works? Where do you get your inspiration from? What’s the narrative behind the pieces you brought for the shoot?
AQ: First of all, I do a lot of research. From there, I take and save photos. I read a lot, and contemplate in places which inspire me. Mostly nature, not just its beauty but also the opposite of it. Mixing structure and femininity. Growing in the southern part of Cebu, there’s a lot of nature that surrounds our place. At the same time, I mix it with myth and folklore that originate from my place.
CS: As a young designer, I was so full of imagination. I want to put everything in one gown, in one tee, in one dress. The ideas of here and there, and then it’s an evolution. After long years of doing clothes, they have become art pieces that can be worn. In terms of style, I’m not really experimental on volume. It’s because I always make sure that my clients would be able to get in and out of the car comfortably. Well, except for a fashion show. Iba ang Cary Santiago for a fashion show because there I really make pieces that are showstoppers. In a fashion show, you have to have inspiration first. You have to know your direction and look. And then I have mannequins in front of me that work as a canvas. From there, I moulage. Mostly, it’s accidental. I don’t really sketch everything. Everything is like, may nahulog na fabric. I am not much of a flat pattern designer but a moulage designer. Everything is built on the mannequin and then it tells me if it’s beautiful, if this is the piece that I want or if it needs to be edited.
What were your first impressions of each other?
AQ: Mommy Cary is one of my inspirations ever since. My first impression of him is that he’s phenomenal and dynamic.
CS: The fashion community in Cebu is quite small, so we know each other. Axel was already in my radar because I met him through Kenneth Cobonpue. He was introduced to me as the designer of the national costume of a Cebuana beauty queen. I immediately complimented his work. I said, “You will come a long way.” Because you can tell someone is passionate with what he does, with the pieces and the intricacy of the work he presents. At my age now, I check on the new breed of designers. Who are the next designers that we will admire?
