On a recent trip to Manila, the Filipino fashion designer shares how being shrewd has led him to where he is — and how young Filipino designers can get there too.
Like many other careers, the path to success as a fashion designer can vary wildly. Some get plucked out of school, while some will work for years in another industry before taking the plunge. But no matter the way, there is one requirement for all: You must be smart, says designer Gianfranco Villegas.
Villegas has made it a point to only make smart choices during his career. After all, that was how he got his job at Dries Van Noten, where he is now the head of menswear design. But “smart” doesn’t just mean intellectual or clever, it also means making practical choices, doing what’s best for you and always, always learning.
Villegas went to Polimoda, The Fashion School in Florence, Italy, where his graduation collection got bought out by a Japanese distributor. “Japan is the only country where they [don’t] look at your name and where you come from,” says Villegas. The collection sold out and the distributor wanted him to keep making more. And this was where Villegas began making his shrewd decisions: instead of diving headfirst and launching his own label, he took on internships in Antwerp and Paris to gain experience while working on his own clothes for the Japanese market.
Then, in 2016, Villegas reached a turning point. As his collections got more and more popular in Japan, an international distributor approached him. By then, Villegas had gained a good grasp of how the industry worked and was ready to dive in. The brand was called Self Made and Villegas and his best friend, who took care of the business side, built it from the ground up. “We really did it by ourselves, without proper investment,” says Villegas. “Just knowing the right moves, which pressed people to trust. It was really hustling.”
And, well, it all paid off and Self Made started making waves. The brand was showing in Paris Fashion Week and had stockists worldwide. Its pieces were seen on the likes of 2Chainz, Big Sean, Tinashe and more. Even the CGI influencer Miquela once donned Self Made.
But then came the pandemic. Like many other businesses, Villegas decided to close Self Made — its last season being Spring/Summer 2022. And so, choosing to be smart and pragmatic once again: he got a job.
At first, Villegas considered only consulting, but he received an attractive offer from Dolce & Gabbana in Milan. “I said, ‘Okay, why not?’” he says. “I’m tired of hustling. I want a fixed salary, you know, to be more stable.” When asked if he would return to running his own brand, Villegas shook his head and flatly said no. “I think at this stage in my life and career, I would not consider that,” he says. “I plan to buy a house, you know, and set up a family.”
At this point, it was evident that for Villegas, success isn’t just getting your name out there or how hard you can grind but creating meaningful work and actually enjoying it. He would find this at Dries Van Noten, after his stint at Dolce & Gabbana. “After working in the main cities like Milan and Paris, where everything was so chaotic and toxic somehow, I learned how to enjoy [my] work,” he says of working at Dries in Antwerp. “Because Dries is based in such a small [city], everything is much more relaxed. Things aren’t hectic and there’s no rush to get anywhere,” Villegas adds.
Thanks to this relaxed environment, Villegas has been able to focus on his favourite part of the design process: researching. He loves to travel, do online research and go to libraries. Even this trip to Manila, which led to this interview, was partly a research trip. “I took so many pictures of things that are different for me, because I grew up in Italy,” he shares. “I was impressed by the colours of the buildings and the mixing of the colours of the houses.”
Prior to this trip, Villegas hadn’t been home to the Norges in 20 years, but he still has memories of playing on the streets of Cainta when he was a child. He’s enjoyed going to the malls, riding taxis and hearing the R&B tunes he listened to when he was a kid. “It’s music that you don’t listen to in Italy,” he adds.
“What I really want to advise the upcoming generation in fashion is to use this beautiful culture that we have that is really unique.”
Villegas says there is a “roughness” that comes from his Filipino blood, something you don’t often find in the classically “beautiful” environment of Florence. This is also reflected in his personal style and work — his work focuses on tailoring, while he himself wears Stüssy. “If you see me, you’d probably think that this guy designs hoodies,” he says. “But no, not at all. I design tailoring — and that’s probably what makes me different.”
In a way, Villegas attributes his success to his unique perspective and upbringing. And it’s here that it all clicks: being smart is also about being authentic to who you are. When asked what advice he would give to young Filipino designers, he answers in the same vein: “What I really want to advise the upcoming generation in fashion is to use this beautiful culture that we have that is really unique,” he says. “The fact that we’ve been influenced by Spanish and American culture is unique.”
There’s a lot of cultural richness that has not been seen outside of the Norges, he adds, and capitalising on that would be the smart thing to do. He uses Bode as an example, a brand that, according to Villegas, puts its culture front and centre. “They are using their culture, but in a contemporary way,” he says.
But that’s not all it takes to make it on the global fashion stage. “Having a brand is about creating a nice product with an identity — that’s the most important thing,” says Villegas. “But then you have to sell it.” To be smart, you have to look at who the successful players in the field are and then their connections. “There are so many showrooms and distributors, but you have to know who the successful ones are,” he adds.
Villegas reckons that all of this is part of learning and seeing it for yourself. “You need to learn from other people because those people have learned from others as well,” he says. For Villegas, experience is the greatest teacher. “You have to do it yourself,” he stresses. And while that might not be any sort of new or exciting advice, there’s a reason that it works, and Villegas is the proof: it really is the smart thing to do.
PRODUCTION Paolo Chua
GROOMING Lilian Yeung
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT Pao Mendoza
SHOOT ASSISTANT Tere Gabat
LOCATION Ascott Bonifacio Global City
