My years with Rhett

I first met Rhett while he was rocking a DJ deck in Shiraz (Don’t we miss that place? The only place that served respectably mixed cocktails). His best friend had just passed away. I understand that she was well loved, but she was well and above Rhett’s greatest love.

I inappropriately gave my condolences to him while he was doing a mix of a Madonna tune. He smiled and thanked me. I had only known about him through seeing his work worn by the most enviable women in Manila in the Lifestyle section of STAR, where I was working as a serf. I had yet to learn about fashion at this point. He was already established with his highly successful tenure at Due.

I adored his store Wink. I remember fighting with my best friend Wendy over his ponchos (then a secret must-have) with dragonflies printed all over it. We both saw Apples Aberin wear it with an obi and we knew that we just had to have it. She settled for a floral print that befit her more feminine spirit, and I clutched my delicate ivory poncho. I wore it out to the clubs, to the beach as a cover-up, or in place of a traditional white T-shirt. It was a piece, I would treasure forever. Apparently, the whole world loved it too. Divisoria would lure buyers into its doors by draping copies of his diaphanous confections.

I would say that Rhett is the only local designer to be worthy of the unwelcome attention of counterfeiters. The truth remains: No one has been faked in the local design industry except for Rhett. It is here that his designs to come will eternized by the fickle fashion world. He was fake-worthy. Everyone wanted a piece of Rhett.

My first edition Rhett poncho still rests in the hallowed section of my closet of history pieces, along with the Prada dress I wore to junior prom and the Calvin Klein tube I wore to senior prom, Galanos dress I wore on my going away party for New York and the Dennis Lustico I wore when I turned 21.  

Rhett and cel: Rhett celebrated my 25th birthday with me in Embassy. How time passes.

Wink closed, his best friend passed. Rhett in some way wanted to fade, too.

Then, I guess time passes and things simply happen.

I seemed to see him everywhere. At the mall, at a close friend’s dinner, an art exhibit or a fashion event that served vinegar wine. As my world seemed to get bigger at 19, so did the presence of Rhett. I don’t really remember how we both became friends. I’m sure we were both drunk. It was probably in Acquario or Firma in Malate. One of those caravancasaries for the young or vulpine.

Whatever it was, we fell in love. He started making dresses again. He told me he hadn’t made a dress in almost two years. He made me a dress for every occasion even down for a sit down dinner in Sala with just the two of us. Henri Calayag, Dennis Lustico, Rhett and I became this little pocket group. One would expect that a odd group like us would spend hours shredding the backs of anyone who seemed welcome of some jeer. However, those afternoons were spent weaving dreams together. In some way we were all just starting. Rhett reclaiming his quiet throne, Dennis stitching dreams in silk for the world to see, Henri creating his cosmetic line and me just learning that eyeshadow can be applied wet or dry.  

That was more than 10 years ago. Today, we are in different places but were still together. It seemed so long ago when Rhett escorted me to the ABS-CBN anniversary walking the red carpet with people screaming at me, “Who are you?” Rhett screamed back, “She’s Celine Lopez and she is the hottest bold star in the making!” We laughed and I will never remember feeling so beautiful in the aubergine chiffon slip with a lime sheer lining that played with the light anchored by ostrich feathers that he made for me that night. That night I ogled movie stars and I felt like a movie star, too.

When I was heartbroken, I went to Tagaytay to read Anna Karenina. I woke up from my comfy room at Sonia’s Garden to be greeted by a dozen roses from Rhett. Boyfriends came and went, but Rhett was there for keeps. The dresses and the history have proved it. 

He made my dress when YStyle first launched. He made my dress for my engagement party. He made my dress when I met my husband to be.

Twenty years seems short. At least in Rhett time. Now he’s moved to his insanely popular Archipelago T-shirts that have now evolved to rectilinear patterns. I went to Cash and Carry and saw doggy shirts with the archipelago embroidered on the right, just like his shirts. I SMS’d him telling him that he’s totally made it since he was now in the pet department knock-off section along with Hérmes and Gucci.

As much as he tried to protect his designs, the Archipelago was something that was not protected by a trademark or patent. It didn’t matter; it had Rhett written all over it, fake or not. Inspired by art, music, the unstable condition of human beings and Merchant-Ivory movies, his talent is never facile but always liminal to beautiful and eternal.

In my life of heartbreak, scandal and eventually happiness, Rhett has been my only true and loyal fashion friend. I may brush my cheeks or do a pretentious air kiss to many to be polite, but I always wrap my arms around Rhett and feel my heart beat a little faster and my face get a little warmer. I love him. He deserves every success.

He might be dismissed as a milquetoast because of his anti-PR ways and his quiet grace. However, two decades of ups and downs and having a legacy to show for it later, one thing’s clear: in this rat race, Rhett is both the patient turtle and the forward-thinking hare.

Rhett is the proof of Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity.