DESIGNER PROFILE
Celebrating his ten years in the industry, designer extraordinaire Pablo Cabahug creates a collection that revisits his most memorable pieces and reimagines them with a new sense of love, emotion and artistic fervor
A decade of romance culminates in a stunning collection from Pablo Cabahug
Designers have always been oracles. Every collection they make is their vision of a woman: who she is, what she stands for and her attitude. Her innate power is present in every hem, stitch and cut. This vision creates a sense of community for women who resonate with the same energy. And for Pablo Cabahug, the vision has always been a woman of love and a woman sure of her femininity.
Pablo grew up in the city of Dumaguete. Growing up, he looked up to his grandfathers, Pabling and Dopling, a city fiscal and lieutenant sergeant of the Philippine constabulary, respectively. These two strong men inspired Pablo to enter the military, but destiny had something else in mind. Despite his military dreams, Pablo recalls how it was the women in his life who shaped his love for clothes, like his grandmother’s high-waisted skirts, colored clutches and printed scarves or his mother’s padded blousons and leggings from the ‘80s. “I had a mix of career dreams growing up,” he says. “Surprisingly, what remained constant were my drawings of girls in long gowns.”
His design journey began when he started his internship with Randy Ortiz. There, he learned not just how to create clothes, but how a master would do it. In 2009 he started his own atelier on Kamagong Street in San Antonio Village. There, he created pieces of art for the women who would became his muses: Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Bianca Gonzales Intal and Pia Wurtzbach. Pablo’s pieces were undeniably sexy, with strategic cut-outs and sheer details highlighting the female form. The dossier of women who are strong, confident and beautiful were the women Pablo most enjoyed dressing up, because these same values guided his creations.
For his 10th year anniversary collection, aptly called “Rayons du Soleil,” he honors the beauty in starting a new chapter of his design journey. In this collection he revisits his most iconic pieces and injects them with a sense of modernity. New fabrics and textures are introduced to the collection. Pleats are curved and layered to add a new perspective of romance while his intelligent cut-outs were forever present to fully highlight the best of the woman’s curves. Colors abound in the collection, from beautiful caramels and Tuscan yellows to velvety blues and rich black. The collection was not only a celebration of his ten years, but also a welcome party to Pablo’s even brighter future.
In this industry, talent can only get you so far. You have to be open to learning new things and most importantly be humble and kind. “In my ten years in the industry I have learned to always plant my feet on the ground. If you constantly surround yourself with positive people who genuinely understand, care and love you, you will never lose yourself,” says Pablo. “In this industry, it’s not how famous and popular you’ve become but it is having good work ethics and kindness that will give you longevity in this industry.” And as if a decade of success isn’t already a testament to this, we have reason believe that Pablo’s star is about to soar even higher and shine longer, illuminating every woman who needs his light.
“IF YOU CONSTANTLY SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE WHO GENUINELY UNDERSTAND, CARE AND LOVE YOU, YOU WILL NEVER LOSE YOURSELF”