Because the love of clothes was driving me crazy, I felt like I had to spread the love,” says Eliza Alba-Montilla.

A self-confessed late bloomer, the personal stylist and brains behind Disenador became interested in fashion after she had her first child at age 26. “A friend told me that just because I was already married with a kid was no reason to look frumpy and let myself go,” says Montilla.

She set out to revamp her then “dismal wardrobe” and, in the process, found other wardrobes to revamp as well.

As she started with friends and family, who would ask her to buy clothes for them, her penchant for styling others grew. “Because I knew their personalities and, eventually, their preferences, they would trust my decisions when it came to choosing outfits for them,” says Montilla. With that, she created Disenador, which began in the pre-order stage, as everything was done online. She would e-mail her clients photos of the outfits she liked, require them to make a deposit, and wait for the clothes to be shipped from Hong Kong—all in all, about seven days.

“Later on, I realized it was difficult to pre-order, as a lot of the clothes looked different in fabric and size when they actually arrived,” says Montilla.

So she opted to do the legwork herself. With little savings and a lot of faith, she ventured into buying the clothes in HK, where she was able to schedule meetings with suppliers and factory owners, and hoped her clients would buy the clothes.

“I chose the clothes one piece at a time and, in my head, fitted each piece on my clients,” says Montilla.

Sold out

After her first batch sold out in three weeks, word got around. Now, she leaves every two months to keep up with seasons and trends.

“I used to be more trend-led, but now, I’m more formulaic. So while I follow trends, I stick to what suits my clients,” notes Montilla.

She adds, “I think so many people get caught up in the trends and forget that they are wearing the clothes, not the other way around.”

As her clients consist of those who refuse to break out of their usual style and those who are adventurous with their fashion choices, she opts to dress them based on their personalities, what she feels would best suit them and, of course, their age.

“As my style also evolves with age, I believe in age-appropriate dressing,” says Montilla.

Although she already has a wide range of clients, she hopes to include more fashion stylists on her list as “it’s always nice to see how they mix the clothes, accessorize them, and incorporate a dress in three or more looks.”

Clients are also assured of the clothes’ exclusivity, as she makes it a point to get hard-to-find labels such as Atsuro Tayama, Givenchy, 3.1 by Philip Lim and Helmut Lang.

“What really sets us apart is that we offer home fitting services,” notes Montilla.

The clothes are set up on racks according to size and designer. For our shoot, racks filled with designer duds lined the walls.

An icing on the cake? Clothes are usually left in the client’s home for at least one night.

“That way, clients can fit the clothes at their own pace, with their favorite pair of shoes, some gal pals, and maybe even a glass of wine,” says Montilla.

Slipping into a designer dress—or two—in the comfort of your home, while enjoying a bottle of bubbly with your best fashion critics, may just be the ultimate fashion fix.

For more inquiries, contact Eliza Alba-Montilla at 0920-9471185 or 0917-8297679; visit www.disenador.multiply.com or Disenador de Moda on Facebook.

Contact Janel of Podium Jewels Fabshop at 0917-8231000.