THE HEART OF AN ORIGINAL

Take the local fashion route with designer Louis Claparols and makeup artist Bobby Carlos to find out what truly makes them proud as Filipino creatives

- MARIAN SAN PEDRO

HOW DID YOUR CREATIVE JOURNEY START?

LC:My god, it started a long time ago! I used to be a full-time designer back in the early 2000s, and he was the makeup artist. We usually work together most of the time. In 2014, I moved back and forth between Los Angeles and Bangkok. Then I moved back here because they were encouraging me to do ready-to-wear. So in 2018, I started this brand with their support.

BC: Back tracking, we’ve been doing this for a very long time. We’ve known each other for 30 years. The retail side of us, before being a makeup artist and a designer, started a long time ago. We even had a store in Rockwell. The store is Marnis Room. And then eventually we’ve become very busy with our own careers, me being a makeup artist and doing editorials and Louis being a designer doing made-to-measure clothes and fashion shows. That’s why I pretty much know all the “OGs” (originals) of the industry. When the pandemic hit, we went back to where we started—we’ve come full circle. Now, we just do pop-up stores.

HOW DID YOU TWO MEET?

Both: Oh my gosh! (laughs)

BC: We used to be together before! (laughs)

LC: Yes! (laughs) Actually, everyone knows!

BC: Yes, everyone in the industry knows about it. But it’s more of like—let’s not go in that direction. We’ve been together for a very long time. 14 years! We broke up around 2012, and then we became friends after a year and then ayun tuloy-tuloy na (it just happened). We’ve realized where we came from and we actually work well together synergistically. Like very good. Even when Louis was doing all his designs when he was a designer, I’m always there to give him criticism or feedback. Likewise, he does the same for me.