Frederick Peralta is a businessman just as much as he's a designer
Frederick Peralta has an eye for fashion and a mind for business
There's pressure in living in the Metro. You have to sustain your
lifestyle.
"Fifty years old, 30 years in the business," designer Frederick Peralta proudly proclaims. Frederick specializes in formal wear for both men and women and wedding gowns. He has dressed a number of celebrities, winning several local and international awards along the way. This veteran designer was a former vice president of the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines and was also one of the former directors of the Board of the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines. Outside of fashion, he has dipped his toes into other industries with forays into radio and television hosting, acting for both television and films, and writing a column for a daily.
At the moment, Frederick is busy with finishing a coffee table book that will document the stages in his career—from being an apprentice, then a designer, to an entrepreneur with his own business. He hopes to complete the book and release it before the Christmas holidays. He's also busy preparing for his 30th anniversary show scheduled for the latter half of the year.
Staying Power
With 30 years in the fashion industry, Frederick is showing no signs of slowing down. "Now that I'm 50, I'm not really looking into retirement yet because my mind is in tune with the times. I always engage myself in activities that will make me happy and young," he explains.
He remembers one of his first designs fondly. "It was for Kuh Ledesma. When I opened my shop, she was one of the artists I asked to cut the ribbon [during the opening]. I cut and sewed a red tailored dress for her. I still remember it."
But the most memorable dress for him was the one that launched his career. "They call it the iconic gown which I designed for the Paris competition [Grand Prix at the Concours International Des Jeunes Creaturs De Mode in 1994]. That created and opened doors for me to be where I am right now," he says. The original dress, which was all made by hand, now sits in Paris. "The precision kasi, ' yun ang hinahanap. It's about 30 kilos? Forty kilos? It's really heavy because of the beadwork."
The secret to his longevity in the industry, Frederick claims, is to always have the law of supply and demand in mind. "The only way to stay in this business is the way you handle yourself in dealing with people. You supply. The law of supply and demand—you should know that and that should be a guiding force for you."
Planting A Good Seed
This kind of pragmatic approach to fashion is one thing that Frederick instills in his apprentices. "Being a designer, you have to develop the business side of it. You can't just make art for the rest of your career because it entails expenses. It entails investment. These are the things you can't disregard. What if you have a good outfit but you can't sell it? Sayang lang ' yun. Sayang ' yung money and effort that you put into it."
His own design philosophy is simple. "Proportion," he says, pausing to emphasize his point. "How will it enhance the figure of the woman? Designs per se can easily be done, but it's how you place the details on the parts of the body. You always have to make sure that you enhance and show the figure of a woman rather than cover it up. The hardest to make is the simplest dress because it shows refinement and the attitude of the designer. That shows how good you are in proportioning lines. That makes a good dress," he adds.
His apprentices have since opened businesses of their own, but have always looked back in gratitude toward Frederick. "You always encounter people who say that you've touched their lives, but they've touched yours even more."