Bench Spring-Summer 2019: Why Rafe Totengco didn’t sell out in NY
It has been exactly 30 years since Rafe Totengco made his big move to Manhattan
April 12, 2019
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It has been exactly 30 years since Rafe Totengco made his big move to Manhattan
The happy news, dahlings, is that New York-based Ilonggo designer Rafe Totengco has collaborated with dominant fashion lifestyle brand Bench for a capsule collection that combines his Filipino heritage with his Big Apple sensibilities.
When Rafe Totengco started out as a fashion designer, he produced clothes that were loose-fitting, layered, body-concealing. He also kept to a restricted color palette.
Mich Dulce perfectly captures it: “I think the world is a smaller place now, the internet has allowed it to be more fluid.
Rafé Totengco is one Filipino who has put the Philippines in the international fashion scene. He’s bagged numerous honors, including Best Accessories Designer (the much coveted ACE Award) given by the New York-based Accessories Council.
Fledgling writers are told to write what they know, which requires them to draw from their own experiences as a starting point. Rafé Totengco may not be a writer, but he has continuously drawn from his experiences to design bags, clutches and minaudieres that many women want.
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