So when Thom recently visited Manila with co-star Kyan Douglas, I was expecting to meet an iconic American designer like Jay Spectre. Instead I got… Jerry Seinfeld.
Filicia on his first day in Manila: "Have you watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles? I feel like John Candy in that movie – I’ve had 17 or 18 meals since yesterday. All of a sudden I’m thinking, Why don’t I feel so good? Oh, yeah, I’ve had a drink in my hand ever since I left the plane."
On his first breakfast with his hosts from Ayala Malls, which he thought would be an intimate affair: "We go down and it’s a whole dining table as long as this room full of women… and Kyan and I. I whispered to Kyan, ‘Maybe they’re trying to convert us.’"
On host Daphne Oseña’s trench coat, a printed melange of orange, hot pink and black: "You could launch a whole new pillow collection with that outfit."
Clearly, Filicia is a man of many not-so-hidden talents. While most of Queer Eye’s one-liners come from fashion savant Carson Kressley, the show is missing out by not capitalizing on its design doctor’s well-developed sense of humor. Lightning-quick on the uptake with an eye that misses nothing, he has the impeccable timing of a stand-up comedian.
Every week, Thom also gives Queer Eye its "wow" factor, whether incorporating a lusted-after flat-screen TV or personally tailored leather rug into the straight guy’s newly designed space. "I’ve never regretted any of the makeovers I’ve done," he claims.
Filicia arrived at 5 a.m. on a Friday, and he and Douglas were billeted at the Makati Shangri-La. Contrary to popular perception, the Queer Eye duo weren’t touring Asia. Having heard about the show’s popularity in the Philippines, they came directly from New York and were scheduled to return after three whirlwind days of promoting the show and their books. Running on alcohol fumes and "four minutes of sleep," Thom nonetheless personified that rare breed: the warm New Yorker. As soon as he makes eye contact, it’s he who approaches you with a handshake and a "Hi, how are you?" before engaging you in conversation.
"Manila is incredible," says Filicia, who admitted to slipping away to shop as soon as he could. An avowed fan of furniture stores that offer an eclectic mix, from Georgian to Chippendale to Moderne, Thom appreciates the finer things in life.
"They found me at the Bulgari store," he says.
After eating at M Café and seeing Ayala’s various properties and model apartments, Thom observed, "Manila’s a very design-conscious city, and Filipinos are very lifestyle-oriented."
No small compliment from a man whose trained eye notices everything. ("Some days I wish I could turn my eye off," he says.) At Alabang Town Center (ATC), where he met fans and talked about his latest project, he greeted orange-and-fuchsia-clad host Daphne Oseña-Paez with, "My favorite colors!" (And he wasn’t just schmoozing. Later that night at the Queer Eye fashion show Thom wore an orange tie over an orange checked shirt.) At ATC’s Homezone, where he opened an exhibit by Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID) students, he examined the ribbon he was about to cut and remarked, "This is beautiful. We should tszuj this and make it part of my outfit."
Like PSID’s students, Filicia studied interior design with a minor in architecture at New York’s Syracuse University ‘s school of Art and Design. Right after graduation he worked in three internationally respected firms: Parish Hadley Associates, Robert Metzger Interiors and Bilhuber Inc., "who gave me the gift of skills I could use in the work world." Having established a strong classical foundation, Thom now designs according to his own personal aesthetic – what he likes to call "classic simplicity."
Thom’s lake house in New York, his boat, and his regular abode in Manhattan’s SoHo all follow this aesthetic. "My apartment has charcoal-gray wooden floors and big picture windows overlooking the city." Of course it has a bar, and a lot of sleek, modern stuff. "And I don’t have a lot of clutter," says the designer, eyes twinkling, obviously one who practices what he preaches.
Thom started his own firm, Thom Filicia, Inc., with a team composed of three designers and their assistants, two architects and their assistants, and the president of the company and his assistant. While Filicia communicates with them "mostly by phone," his company works on 13 active projects at a time, plus Thom’s duties at Queer Eye and extra-curriculars like the trip to Manila. Thom and Kyan are managed by the two Michaels – Michael Flutie, their manager, and Michael McConnell, their talent agent (whose company manages the likes of model Jaime King and actress Alexis Bledel of Sin City fame).
Thom’s latest project was the US pavilion for the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan. There, he was tasked to create a VIP suite where world leaders, top dignitaries and business executives from 125 countries could meet and discuss arts technology and saving the environment.
"Queer Eye has opened up lots of opportunities for me. A year ago I was asked to be part of the bidding for the US pavilion for the world’s fair. It would have to show what’s going on in the US, what the country’s about, entertain businessmen, and bring different cultures together to do business."
The floor plan was inherited from a Japanese architect who designed a temporary building, and it was far from being a conventional space. "There were not a lot of straight walls," recalls Thom. "The challenge was to create a beautiful but functional space. I had to plan how the space was used, and did perspective drawings of what it should look like. I wanted a young, innovative, modern look and use all-American materials."
Thom, who also designs and makes furniture, had six months to plan, prepare, build, fabricate and ship it all to Japan, then had a week to construct.
The result is a beautiful hybrid of Americana, with luxurious appointments that refer to almost every design period, from classical to hyper-modern. "The US is a melting pot, so I wanted to mix the historical with the contemporary and look to the future," says Thom.
Collaborating with as many American artists and designers as he could, Filicia used lots of details like cogs from American factory machines as table decor. A downed sycamore tree from Connecticut was sliced into a screen to define room space. High ceilings were brought lower with beams from turn-of-the-century train stations. A wall clock was inspired by Fifties and Sixties government architecture. Moose heads dotted the walls, while a piano chair was made from stag antlers that "fell off naturally," according to Thom. "I didn’t wrestle with a deer and say, ‘Let go, I need to make a chair!’"
Before his Manila visit, Thom issued a design challenge to the students of PSID: he gave them the same empty floor plan and outline he was given for the US pavilion, and asked them to design a "Filipino Contemporary VIP Suite."
Under the tutelage of PSID professor Gie Pambid, students Yasmin Aquitania, Timmie Enriquez, Letty Ruiz and Samantha Santiago rose to the challenge and created two rooms that Thom unveiled and raved about. One was a contemporary Filipino vignette using traditional materials. The other was more modern, using an innovative, younger approach. "They did such an incredible job that when I saw their work I thought, Uh-oh, my job’s in jeopardy. They’re already one step ahead. Like me, they were limited to the resources available to them, which is what I do every week on the show.
"Our vocabulary overlaps. I see so many similarities with what I did, like using a screen, which is a great way to delineate and define space. It was a great exercise of how I design today, looking at spaces in a fresh, historical way and making a statement – getting to know the client, how they live, who they are, and what represents him and his family."
Thom, the stand-up comedian of the Queer Eye gang, definitely knows how to make a statement.