Lesley Mobo: ‘More than just fashion shows and glamor, life in London is all about hard work’

My story on Lesley Mobo begins with a flashback.Some 14 years ago,I got a handwritten letter  from Aklan from a mother about her son who was a student of Central Saint Martins in London, complete with brag photos. She had all the right to be proud.Her son was doing well in the fashion school, in fact he was reaping honors. I was glad I published the piece she sent. But I felt sad that I did not keep that letter with matching photographs. It could have been part of the memorabilia I keep on fashion greats I have encountered as a lifestyle journalist.

Did I not sense that this boy from Aklan was destined to be a fashion great? Inno Sotto apparently did when he mentored this boy during his fashion group’s search for promising young designers to be sent for training abroad. Fernando Zobel  certainly did, when he lent support by attending the London Philippine Fashion Show brought by Ayala Foundation and where Mobo caught the attention of Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece and Denmark. Ayala likewise honoured Mobo in its “Bravo Filipino” festival cheering the homecoming hero. Ben Chan, who has that eye for spotting real style and substance in fashion retailing, asked Mobo to design a special underwear line for Bench Body and presented it in the Bench biennial show a few years ago.Yes, the briefs had a not-so-brief success — they were forever on the list of top sellers.

Kaye Tinga surely knew that Mobo would be beloved by Manila’s sophisticated set, for she organized a charity gala showcasing the London-based designer’s creative  mettle rarely seen in Manila. Another woman of style who spotted Mobo’s talent early on is Sofia Zobel-Elizalde, who continues to be a Mobo patroness. And what about  Ariel Lozada, a most creative and edgy director who works only for the best? He can talk non-stop about Mobo being the best Philippine export to London, our top ambassador of culture in the country that lives and breathes culture.

On a London trip last April organized by talent manager Keren Pascual for O+ phones, Lesley Mobo was there in our rowdy, happy group, but I lost him somewhere between a day filled with guided tours and a  rowdy, happy dinner at Balthazar.

Finally I found Lesley Mobo last week in London, this time with a quiet, happy group over lunch at Cafe Rouge on Basil street, right across Harrods where he had spent almost a decade of his designing life showing this favorite store of the elite what Filipino creativity is all about. I wanted to ask him: Is Vivienne Westwood still your designing hero? Is it still your dream to work for Balmain? Did the mother of alternative rock Patti Smith and the mother of all tortured women Tracy Emin ever get to wear your clothes? How have you reinvented the English trench coat, which you once said you wanted to rework? Do you still enjoy the English countryside with sceneries straight from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice?

“I would love to dress up Daphne Guinness,” Mobo said after admitting that made-to-measure can be more challenging and satisfying than RTW. And yes, he still loves taking walks by himself in London. “For inspiration and energy, it’s London. Here, you can have a conversation about Picasso even with a taxi driver or a cleaner.You can enjoy national theatre, get blissfully lost in a museum.”

Mobo knows how to de-stress amid a busy schedule. “Here in Europe, people work hard, but they know how to take a proper lunch break. Designers race against the demands of fashion. You have to know that there is life beyond fashion. Alexander McQueen (who committed suicide) was a victim of the fashion industry. He spent his life pleasing everyone.”

Over coffee, Mobo talked on about the pressures and pleasures of his job. But there’s one thing I realize: Mobo has been wearing a baseball cap since day 1 of his  fashion journey in London. But his head never got bigger. The same baseball cap still fits his head. 

PHILIPPINE STAR: What’s with the baseball cap? You always wear one. It’s your signature look.

LESLEY MOBO: To start with I really don’t like the way I look, so the more I cover the better. Plus I am very comfortable wearing one.

Although I always convince myself that there’s a technicality to wearing a baseball cap; that it helps balancing the proportions of my face. Just like architecture or mathematics, it’s all about angles.

Actually I just have two caps — a plain black and a deep blue-colored one and they are not the expensive ones; you can buy them in the department stores. I can’t even find a designer cap that I like.

You have a lot of followers on Instagram, almost 400,000. So many fans.

I was notoriously anti-social media in the past but then I realize you can’t do fashion and not keep up with what’s going on. Fashion is always a reflection of what’s going on out there now, always hungry, always demanding and always hasty. The growth of social media has been described as the great democratization. Yes, it is good in the sense that everyone has a voice; obviously anyone with the loudest voice or more “likes” is the one young people listen to. It can be a powerful thing for endorsement but as we all know it is a one-way conversation.

When I made my account open to public, I was a bit worried. I was aware of the downside of having an active social media networking like Instagram. It can also show the ugly face of fashion criticism by an unknown 14-year-old girl from Naga or Dipolog in a matter of seconds.

Without a doubt, social media and blogs can be useful and effective tools if we use them with thoughtfulness as opposed to meanness, and analysis rather than knee-jerk reaction. I avoid as much as possible posting about fashion. One thing you really want to avoid when you work in fashion is getting bombarded by monotonous catwalk shots that your catwalk colleagues are also uploading — you know the score. There are other things in life to post about — there’s family, inspiring places to see and ideas I want to share. I want it to be funny, it is mainly intuitive and I want my feed to communicate my visual vocabulary in not-so-obvious-ways — that is my Instagram methodology. 

Let’s go back to your journey from Aklan to London. Tell us things we haven’t read about yet.

I don’t think I told anyone that my mother tried to stop an Airbus A319-100 PAL airplane from flying from Kalibo to Manila just to announce to all the passengers inside the plane that she wanted to send an envelope with 12 design sketches of dresses to CITEM for a competition because her son wanted to be a fashion designer and pleading that the sketches should be at the CITEM office before 6 p.m. that day. That was classic; one kind soul said yes, and that was really the start of my career.

When I was a kid I excelled in science and visual art, I considered doing fashion and my father said it would be hard for me to make good as a designer in the Philippines because we didn’t have connections, and that I could do design on the side. So I took up biology at Far Eastern University. Back then, becoming a doctor seemed like a good idea.

But in my third year, the urge to sketch was there, I learned that difficult choices become even more difficult when you persist in avoiding them. So I decided from then I would go to the National Book Store and read the magazines I couldn’t afford to buy. At that time, Inno Sotto was the most visible and famous designer and I was inspired by him. I also discovered and followed Gianni Versace. I would do a lot of research about Versace by hanging out at NBS and towards the end discovered the “Cool Britannia” movement and everything about it was just magic for me.

So what happened to your pre-med plans?

After graduation, I told my parents I really wanted to be a fashion designer. I researched and read about the British Council’s Education Week where they talked about a one-year foundation course in fashion. I showed my sketches to this British professor from Camberwell College of Art and Design representing the art colleges from England and told her about this big dream of mine. But they weren’t offering scholarships. Then I heard about a fashion competition conducted by FDCP led by Inno Sotto so I joined and I was selected to represent the Philippines for the Japan competition and selected along with 10 other designers (Gerry Katigbak, Jojie Loren, JC Buendia, among them) for Paris. I was disqualified at the end of it so I decided to just completely abandon my dreams of making it as a fashion designer in the Philippines. Instead I wrote a letter, sent it to Central Saint Martins along with my new portfolio requesting if they could allow me to skip the foundation course and just accept me straight to the B.A. honors fashion course. A few weeks later they offered me a place to study fashion specializing in womenswear.

And you won in the CITEM competition?

Yes, Avel Bacudio and I were given the slots for Japan, while Jojie Lloren got the trip to Paris. My entry was a metal outfit with pearls. Inno was so kind to mentor me. The problem was that both Avel and I could not get visas — we had never traveled before — and we ended up not taking any trip.

How did you get to Central Saint Martins?

I applied for the foundation course. To get a British visa, my mother borrowed P1 million from a rich Chinese man in the lumber business for show money, and got a letter of recommendation from the Aklan governor. My mother gave me 300 pounds to start with, and said, “Bahala na pag dating mo doon.” Upon arrival, I wanted to go home. I got culture shock. I stayed in the house of a barrio friend in London and eventually I got odd jobs — as a house sitter, delivery man, whatever. I was able to save money for tuition. I was on-the-go seven days a week, night and day. From 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. I worked in the casino, and went to school in the daytime.

Didn’t that drain your energy?

It made me tougher. If you want to succeed, you have to work hard. That’s why I don’t understand why some young people want things the easy way. In my second year, I got job interviews with John Galliano for Dior and Clements Ribeiro for Cacharel. In my third year, my teacher was doing illustrations for Galliano, who was then at his peak at Dior, and he recommended me, and I was scheduled for an interview with Galliano. I didn’t get the job at Dior. In the end Galliano offered it to a graduating student instead, but I ended up working with the British design Duo Clemets Ribeiro for Cacharel for a few months.

And what was your collection about?

It was romantic, dramatic. Heavily influenced by Galliano and Lacroix. I also used sea urchins. For my graduation show and for the graduation press show, my mother and father went to London for support. My mother did all the steaming of the collection while my father entertained all the models from Storm Agency. My collection made it in The Independent newspaper with a good review from Susanna Frankel. A few months later I was invited by the Victoria and Albert Museum to do a finale show for their “Fashion in Motion” catwalk exhibition. The show was covered by BBC.

How did Harrods discover you?

Liz Wilson of Harrods saw my work at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s “Fashion in Motion” show in 2002 and I was called in for an interview at Harrods by Jasmine Al Fayed, the owner’s daughter. I became designer for the Jasmine di Milo line and we started building the brand from scratch, at the same time that I took my MA. We first opened a concession within Harrods and after three years working there as head designer we ended up selling the brand outside Harrods with 170 international stockists including Saks, Liberty, etc.

I worked at Harrods until 2010 when the owners sold the store. I took it as a chance to do other things. I then worked as design consultant at Ghost as part of their rebranding team. I won the Diesel Award in Trieste and received the Emilio Pucci Award in Florence. I did a sold-out capsule collection with Diesel and a design collaboration with Absolut Vodka Sweden. I also started my own line, Mobo London, with a showroom in Paris, selling the collection mainly in Italy, Russia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Lebanon, Egypt, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar. In 2013, I started designing for Uniqlo men, women and girls. Sales were good, and my contract was renewed.

And you were also able to do homecoming  shows in Manila?

Yes, I did one for “Bravo!” of Ayala, the Colours/Cignal show, and I also did a Bench underwear line for Ben Chan in 2008. Ben is simply one of the best. He is so humble, he never brags about anything. He seems quiet but when it comes to fashion retailing, you know he is sharp. I am so happy working with Ben.

Having been in the London fashion industry for 15 years now, what lessons have you learned that you want to share with aspiring designers?

It’s more than the fashion show, the party, the glam. It all seems effortless and glamorous, but the fact is, it’s all about hard work and ideas. We sell an escape, a lot of fashion is about illusion. My worry is that we are inspiring young people to do fashion because they think we’re elitist, special and glossy and the truth is that we’re dirty and it’s hard work.

What’s you’re observation about the established designers?

I have nothing against established designers, it’s more of the younger generation of designers popping out of nowhere. I see a lot of young designers posting their designs on Facebook, and they want to look like Elie Saab. Sometimes it’s good and healthy to point out to a young designer when there’s no point of view or something is badly done. Because the industry is all about generating new ideas and looking at new perspectives. Fashion looks for lots of things. When I was a head designer I always asked all our designers and design apprentice to bring us research or ideas we hadn’t seen before, just as any design director in any fashion company will want to be presented with new ideas. Young people should be bringing in original ideas or different points of view that we haven’t seen before on the catwalk, in products or in the stores, not like some obsolete ‘80s beaded swirly applique from the Middle East, but an image of the way they see the world as young people. That’s why they are called “young” — they should be fearless, exciting, experimental, provoking and suggestive.

Do you think you would have succeeded as well if you had stayed in the Philippines?

In London, it’s all about ideas. What’s great in London is the respect and support for fashion designers from the government. When I was doing my showroom in Paris, UKTI (UK Trade and Investment) gave support and appreciated what I did for my business. I value the respect they give to creativity, I don’t think we have that support in the Philippines yet.

Who are the designers you enjoy observing?

I have so much respect for Miuccia Prada. Her vision gets clearer and clearer. I love what she’s been doing in the past few years.

Where did you get your fearlessness?

I have a fearless mother and father. Any discussion about fear or my lack of it starts, and nearly ends, there.

They taught me the meaning and the meaninglessness of money. Money meant only what it should mean: a safe roof over our heads, food on the table, and the means to help anyone with less. There was never a thought of envy or status associated with money. l know that the reason I was able to make a living in this business is because it was just a side effect of doing the work I loved. I owe it all to my family and loved ones for sharing my dreams.

What was the biggest luxury you ever had?

Not taking drugs. It’s so uncool.

My idea of luxury when I was a kid, I used to envy kids in our town who would go to Sanrio in Manila and come back with a Swatch. So I would join painting competitions just so I could earn money to buy a Swatch.

What don’t people know about you?

That I’m nothing special. I’m a loner. I watch movies by myself, I take walks by myself. I like to eat by myself.

What is giving you fulfillment now as a fashion designer?

At the moment I have a strong working relationship with one of the biggest casual wear brands in the world which is Uniqlo, I also have a creative relationship with the biggest retail brand in the Philippines, Bench; I have my Mobo line which is a constant laboratory for me, a few consultancy jobs with other fashion brands both High Street and luxury and I also have the opportunity sometimes to explore made-to-measure, which I find exciting and which can be fulfilling. All these keep me inspired and going.

Being a fashion designer is a romantic idea. Your job is to make someone feel special, happy, and it’s as simple as that. I’m not saving lives, but making someone feel good is a good enough reason to justify one’s existence as a fashion designer.

How do you envision yourself 10 years from now?

Still in fashion, still in London. And still wearing a baseball cap.

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