The practical poet of Philippine fashion
On Oct. 4, the 14th Red Charity Gala will raise its curtains for Rhett Eala, the 13th designer to take his turn on a stage that has hosted the Philippines’ foremost talents. A new chapter of Philippine fashion is written each year by designers like Michael Cinco with his crystalline fantasy, Rajo Laurel with his masterful drama, Lulu Tan Gan with her textural reinventions, Chito Vijandre with his historical and literary alchemy, and Furne One with his dazzling theatrics. This year belongs to Rhett, whose story is one of restraint, wearability, and a devotion to beauty that is never out of reach.
“When I saw Lulu’s last year, I was so happy,” Rhett told me. “I said, ‘I could do something like that.’ Because, ’di ba, when you think about Red Charity, it’s Furne, Ezra—all the fantastic designers. I said, ‘I’m not like that.’ With Ivar also.” What he saw in Lulu’s understated elegance was a path for his own voice to be heard in a venue often associated with spectacle. “When I saw Lulu’s, I said, ‘Oh, so I can do it, too.’”
Rhett has never been one to create fantasy for its own sake. “I’m not naman a designer who designs fantasy clothes. I like to design clothes that are beautiful and wearable. Of course, I start out with beautiful fabric, then I figure out what to do with it.”
Wearability is not a compromise in his hands, it is his philosophy. “Well, I think it has to make the woman feel beautiful. It also should be practical. I guess maybe because I’m also like a ’90s kid eh, so it’s a bit more minimal. It’s not about a lot of decoration.”
Ready-to-wear master Rhett Eala takes his turn at the Red Charity Gala 2025.
That minimalism was forged by years of discipline in ready-to-wear, long before RTW became the direction many of our designers would take to reach wider audiences. “I was with Rustan’s for 11 years,” Rhett recalled. His fashion remains anchored in the discipline of clothes made not for display but for life. He is aware of how this sets him apart. “Even if I didn’t consciously push it, it will be pushed because that’s who I am. I’m a ready-to-wear designer. Like, I’m not really a couture designer.”
Still, in the context of the Red Charity Gala, where audiences come expecting to be wowed, how does wearability measure against drama? “Sometimes when I do shows, I ask my designer friends, ‘Isn’t this too simple?’ And then they say, ‘Well, what can you do, that’s just who you are.’ You just can’t be a person you’re not.”
This honesty, to his own voice and sensibility, will define his Red Charity Gala show. What we can expect, he says, are the hallmarks that have marked his work for decades. “Fabric, fabrication, and then silhouettes. You do embellishments, we do it with fabric. I also have codes as a designer, like I’m known for hand-painting my clothes, which will come out. I’m also known for the fringes.” What we’ll see are fringes that move like fluid lines, hand painting that carries his personal touch. “Very feminine, when I look at my clothes,” he says. What we’ll see, however, is feminine, never fragile; practical, never plain. This balance is what he has honed over 35 years in the industry. He now designs not out of adrenaline but a sense of certainty, carefully considering the person he is dressing. “I think a lot about a person before I design something for them,” he explains. “So when we start on a dress it’s been thought through carefully.”
His story begins with his grandmother. “My love for fabric came from my grandmother when I used to be young. I was around 10 years old, maybe younger,” he recalls. “Even back then, we used to go to the seamstresses all over and she used to take me to all her fittings. Then I would go there and feel all the fabric.” His grandmother, Trinidad Tapia Valencia, gave him both memory and material, the touch of textiles as much as the ritual of dressing. His mother, painter Baby Valencia, also shaped his eye. “My mom was flawless,” he said. “She was more of a pants person. Like, when I think about her, I think of Céline, the brand. She was always in suits.”
From the mantilla at Sto. Domingo to the tailored suits of his mother, Rhett’s sensibility was nurtured early, even before the pages of Vogue gave him his first taste of fashion’s wider world. “Like, the first time I saw Vogue, I was so excited.” His fascination for color came not from trends but from art. “My mom paints, and whenever we traveled, she always used to take us to museums. So my favorite artists were the colorful ones like Matisse, not even Picasso. The Impressionists. But Matisse was my favorite.”
It is no surprise that his Red Charity Gala show will be a celebration of color. “Well, it’s the first time I’m going to do a lot of colors, a lot of strong colors,” Rhett teases. “Lately, that’s what my private shows have been like. I want to do bright. I want something that looks like a celebration.” The suite will begin with neutrals, black and white, and then color will take over. “I’m using a lot of green, green and pink, two of my favorite colors. Not so much blues. And then also, not neutrals. So, it’s black and white, and then the really bright colors. Like that green. That red.”
He is also introducing menswear, 10 looks, treated with the same techniques as his womenswear. “Like, we’re going to do 3D flowers on the menswear. We’re going to do fringe on the menswear.” This is where Rhett finds novelty for himself, a surprise even in his own process. “I haven’t done it yet. I think the menswear will be a surprise even for me.”
His fabrics are as carefully chosen as ever. “We’re using a lot of moire. It’s a very old type of fabric I was able to source from abroad. We’ll see the fabrics—it’s going to be different from the usual. Lots of silks.” Alongside moire, there will be Swiss lace, taffeta silk, organza, satins, and wools.
To look at Rhett’s work is to understand that beauty need not be loud to be memorable. He is not one to follow the color of the year or the dictates of trends. “Now I feel like I’m designing what I like. I like to design things for me. You know, when I was younger, I was waiting for a reaction. But now, it’s okay if you like it, it’s okay if you don’t.”
The Red Charity Gala promises each year to showcase the best of Philippine fashion. For Rhett Eala, it will be a celebration, but on his own terms. His collection, true to himself, will present a story told through fabric and color, memory and modernity, femininity and practicality and, perhaps in doing so, will redefine what it means to be a truly spectacular designer.
