Three minds, one vision
Woven in the tapestry of creativity, talent, and family, dynamic fashion designer Rajo Laurel and his sisters Venisse Laurel-Hermano and Gela Laurel-Stehmeier have teamed up to set new, firm goals for Rajo Store. These talented sisters have infused new aesthetics and seamlessly incorporated a Rajo Laurel design stamp on every piece in Rajo Store’s latest collection.
This new direction of Rajo Store is a seal of family and celebration, especially as they also celebrate their 10th anniversary.
I love how you’ve evolved as an individual and family. And it’s so fitting, but you’re all creative. So, how do you keep sanity within the family?
Venisse Laurel-Hermano (V): I think I’m the only one who’s not super creative. I mean, I am up to a certain point, but I leave the creativity to them.
Rajo Laurel (R): It would be best to paraphrase it that every one of us has a superpower. Venisse’s main strength, really, is how she’s able to maintain peace and order with the whole scenario.
So technically, the crossover from behind the scenes to the front is Venisse.
V: Yes. It’s the first time that I crossed over to the creatives.
Gela Laurel-Stehmeier (G): Better to have three creative minds. There’s more outcome.
So, is this like a transition for both of you to be involved? Who started the ball rolling? Was it you, Rajo?
V: For the Rajo store, it was always my dream to have [it].
So you are creative! Oh my God, you’re so humble!
R: She is. She is the one who pushes us forward in terms of that, because otherwise, without Venisse and Gela, I probably still would be just in my made-to-order world.
G: It’s like fantasy (gestures to Rajo), reality (gestures to herself), [and] execution (gestures to Venisse).
Okay, so let’s talk about the collection. It’s like an evolution of fashion, wherein it’s not just your basic black and white, or, your scheme is angular.
G: My sister and I always travel together. And we said, we want a capsule collection. Just a few pieces, 12. It’s easy to pack, no need to iron, and you can dress it from shopping morning till dinner or [the] theater, at night.
And then suddenly, (Rajo) says, “Nope, not 12 pieces. You’re doing the whole collection.”
R: When they presented, I looked at myself and said, “Oh, my God, this is it. This is what women need. This is what we need. People are always looking for things that are easy to wear, easy to travel with, and well-designed, and people don’t want to look like fast fashion. Always.
I want to talk about family because I saw the lineup of your wonderful models. It’s all family.
R: We wanted to honor that particular legacy, to really use that as an anchor toward our brand. Like you. You come from a family that works together. I didn’t realize that that’s something quite rare in the fashion world.
For both of you, this transition… is it scary or exciting, or both?
V: It’s very scary, maybe for her. (laughs)
G: It’s scary because we’re touching a part of Kuya Rajo’s area, an area that we’ve never immersed in that much before. You know, we always ask their opinion, but this time, it was really a lot of free rein on details.
R: But you know, Tessa, it’s actually not frightening, it’s exciting because when you begin a brand new conversation, for instance, as you know, all you do is sort of like black and white, and all of a sudden, Gela dips in her finger, and all of a sudden there’s a bit of orange in there. So that creative conversation sparks something fresh, something new. The reason why we’re really trying to do this is because we want to differentiate this particular brand.
From that dialogue, what comes forth is really interesting, fresh perspectives on what we’ve been doing for so long.
What they’ve given me is a chance to really listen. And I think that’s the most important thing about the creative process. It’s really [all about] listening.
