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Rajo Laurel. Screengrab: YouTube/KC After Hours

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MANILA — Behind the glamour, runway shows and celebrity clientele, Rajo Laurel said building a decades-long career in fashion has required constant reinvention, discipline and resilience.Speaking on broadcaster Karmina Constantino’s podcast, Laurel reflected on his 34 years in the industry, sharing how his parents shaped both his creative path and business mindset while teaching him that success “is still a constant struggle.”Laurel, who is able to handle both the creative process and the money side of the business, said that it was his father who pushed him to get a business degree.&quot;I&#x27;m very fortunate that I see my business really as a business. For all the listeners out there, a lot of it is really a balance between creativity and commerce, and you need that particular balance, because if it&#x27;s just all pure art and it&#x27;s all pure creativity, it&#x27;s going to be quite difficult. And I have to thank my father for this, because he really pushed me and said, &#x27;No, you are not going to just be a fashion designer. You have to have a business degree.&#x27; He forced me to go to La Salle and to get a business degree ... much to my depression, and I said, I want to work alread... but again, I guess there&#x27;s this magical moments in your life that it becomes so serendipitous, because La Salle was very close to Malate,&quot;  he said.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1778210972595Rajo.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-dragging" width="960"/>Rajo Laurel. Screengrab: YouTube/KC After Hours</div>&quot;One day my mother picked me up. She said, &#x27;Halika samahan mo ako may kukunin akong damit, nagpagawa ako rito. And ang lapit lapit lang ng Malate sa Taft Avenue so parang there was a light bulb moment. Kumatok ako the next day, sa kanyang  designer, his name was Louie Mamengo. Sharon Cuneta and Regine Velasquez&#x27;s designer was  Louie Mamengo. And I think what happened was Louie said, &#x27;Of course come,  if you want to by my apprentice.&#x27;  I said, &#x27;I  just can be.&#x27; So every break, every single break that I would do in La Salle, I would spend in Louie Mamengo&#x27;s studio,&quot; he recalled.Laurel said he eventually realized that his father’s strictness came from a desire to make sure his children would be able to stand on their own.&quot;When you were young, you basically rebelled and said, he just doesn&#x27;t want me to be happy or he just hates what I&#x27;m doing or he hates me or he&#x27;s homophobic, or he&#x27;s a freak. But a lot of it is just he just wants his children to be secure. He wanted his children to be unafraid to have something to fall back on, to be able to fend for themselves. He&#x27;d always say, &#x27;Wala kaming ipapamana sa inyo kung hindi ang magandang pangalan at edukasyon.&#x27; So I really took that into heart. I mean, essentially I really said, okay, I&#x27;m going to finish university. But the minute I finish university, I ran and became a designer right the way,&quot; Laurel said.&quot;I&#x27;ve been doing this for almost 33-34 years. I was a designer at 21.  I guess it was a bit of luck, but also a lot of hard work... I&#x27;m not going to tell you that all of a sudden it&#x27;s just sort of like easy. What we do is really passion. You need to love what you do, I think you have to realize that, hindi ito trabaho lang for the faint-hearted.  ... It&#x27;s still a constant struggle. I mean, you can never rest on your laurels. ...Every day is an opportunity to be better because it&#x27;s true what they say, you&#x27;re only as good as your last collection,&quot; he added.Laurel also paid tribute to his mother, saying he and his siblings would not have grown up as strong and confident as they are without her guidance and sacrifices.&quot;I don&#x27;t think I will be who we are as a family without my mother. My mother is so strong, you know, because my dad was a public servant, he was a governor in Batangas and then later on a diplomat, and during the time of the Marcos regime, he really was sort of like very careful. So to the point that parang, he was so careful that he didn&#x27;t even pick anything. He gave everything to the people. My mom, on the other hand, said, took it upon herself to take care of the family. In fact, my very first paycheck I gave to her. And to this very day, she&#x27;s still our CFO. She still signs the checks,&quot; he said.&quot;I honor her every day because I think we won&#x27;t be as strong and as confident, if not for her doing. I want to tell her that I am grateful, that I am so, so, so thankful that God gave her to us. You cannot undermine the role of a mother. I mean, obviously, we had our misunderstandings, but in sum total, really, it was really all about her vision, because we all worked together... I work with my sisters. And then my brother also works with us. And we do have, of course we have our misunderstandings, but we&#x27;re all collectively one. And I think the reason behind this was that my mom was really so clear that whatever happens, we&#x27;re a family,&quot; Laurel said.Last month, Laurel launched his latest boutique where RAJO’s Spring Summer 2026 collection, Child’s Play, was also unveiled.

Behind the glamour, runway shows and celebrity clientele, Rajo Laurel said building a decades-long career in fashion has required constant reinvention, discipline and resilience.

Behind the glamour, runway shows and celebrity clientele, Rajo Laurel said building a decades-long career in fashion has required constant reinvention, discipline and resilience.

Rajo Laurel reflects on 34 years in fashion: ‘It’s still a constant struggle’

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Rajo Laurel reflects on 34 years in fashion: ‘It’s still a constant struggle’

ABS-CBN News

Published May 08, 2026 12:05 PM PHT

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