Rafe Totengco bags TOYM Award

Despite numerous accolades given to him by the New York fashion industry, famed bag designer Rafe Totengco says he was never more nervous and excited than when he was named one of The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) for 2002. At the awarding ceremonies last Wednesday night at the Malacañang Palace, a visibly thrilled Rafe, who wore an intricate Barge Ramos barong tagalog (the same one he wore to the US Council of Fashion Designers Awards in 1999) and a traditional gold tambourine necklace, says the event was definitely worth coming back home for. "All my friends and relatives urged me to receive it in person. They all told me it’s really the most prestigious award our country gives . It’s also the first time they gave a TOYM to anyone from the field of fashion design, so I’m honored to be the one chosen to help pave the way," he says. He gifted the event’s guest of honor, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, with a Rafe bag.

Nominated for many awards in the past few years (including the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Perry Ellis Accessory Design Award in 1999), Rafe won the Rising Star Award from Fashion Group International and was named ACE Award Best Accessories Designer of the Year in 2001. Rafe is also the only other Filipino member besides Josie Natori to be admitted into the CFDA. His line of women’s and men’s bags and accessories are recognized throughout the world and are sold in stores like Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Barney’s and Bloomingdale’s in New York, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong and Isetan in Tokyo. Celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bullock, Gisele Bundchen, Alexandra von Furstenburg and the Sex and the City cast have all been spotted toting his designs.

Says Eli Pinto-Mansor, former director of CITEM and now a consultant for the Department of Trade and Industry, who attended the event, "I’m really glad he was recognized. Even if he lives far away from us, he has not forgotten his connections with the Philippines and it shows in his work." Rafe’s summer lines incorporate indigenous materials and local craftsmanship coupled with Philippine cultural influences like the bakya, tsinelas and gumamela flowers. "He wants Filipino materials to be globally competitive," says his TOYM bio. "Though he still uses materials from other countries, he wants his products to have an essence of Filipino design, but in a chic, not provincial way."

Rafe admits he was humbled to be in the company of such esteemed individuals as his co-awardees, which include architect Ed Calma, CNN Jakarta bureau chief Maria Ressa, geneticist Eva Maria Cutiongco, forensics pathologist Raquel del Rosario-Fortun, and human rights lawyer Teodore Te. "When I met them," says Rafe, "I was absolutely blown away by their accomplishments–you’re talking about very accomplished Filipinos! For a moment there I really felt like, Ano ba’ng katuturan ko dito? But they put it in perspective for me. They told me it wasn’t just that I design bags, but you had to look at the bigger picture." With bag-making businesses now sprouting left and right in the country, Rafe’s success seems to have spawned an emerging bag industry that he believes has overtaken our once flourishing shoe industry.

Mansor sees the TOYM Awards’ recognition of a fashion designer as a very positive development. "It’s only now that Filipinos have started to honor the field of design, respect the talent of artists and give them their due. We worked very hard for that and I’m glad to see something like this happen in my time," she says. She thinks major government support is the key to developing more talents like Rafe. "I just hope the government supports design by way of establishing design schools like in Italy. Talent and creativity are not enough. They need to learn technical skills," she said.

Along with the skills he picked up as a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (he left three courses short of getting his degree when he put up his own business), Rafe credits his success to sheer hard work, determination, chutzpah and his mother Zeny, who cried profusely when he called her to confirm his TOYM recognition. "She never questioned me once, never said ‘No’ or ‘Why?’," he says. "Not when I wanted to wear Fiorucci two sizes smaller as a teenager. Never questioned why I wanted to cut my hair like Mary Quant. Why I wanted to wear turquoise, black, red and yellow in one outfit, never questioned my rubber bracelets... never. And to her credit, I really have to say that because there were no rules, I made up my own rules! And in spite of the fact that even her sister gave her a hard time about it, like ‘Oh my God, look at what your son is wearing... he’s like a town queen, he’s an embarrassment, tell him to take it easy.’ People would kid her about me. So to her, my winning the TOYM is like her triumph. This is her way of saying to them, ‘You know what, you thought he wouldn’t amount to much, well, here he is.’" She now works with him in New York as his bookkeeper.

Maybe Maria Ressa, who was unanimously chosen to speak in behalf of the awardees, encapsulated in her speech what made Rafe and all the other TOYMs succeed in each of their fields. She said, "I discovered that each one of us had such an amazing passion for what we did, it wasn’t just something we pulled out of the air. I discovered that each one of us is a fighter. When people say ‘It’s not possible,’ or ‘‘You’re crazy,’ that’s when we fight back. We look at things not just how they are but how we dream they can be. We’re all committed to fighting to make each of our visions a reality."