Neil Felipp San Pedro (CDN PHOTO/Edd Buenaviaje)
In an Epic coterie of Asia’s hyper-rich lives that is both comedic and outrageous, “Crazy Rich Problems,” Kevin Kwan’s follow-up to his best-selling books “Crazy Rich Asians” and “China Rich Girlfriend” boasts local references, some of which are based on real individuals.
There’s Karen Davila, Josie Natori, Manny Pacquaio, andcoterie of Asia’s hyper-rich lives that is both comedic and outrageous, “Crazy Rich Problems,” Kevin Kwan’s follow-up to his best-selling books “Crazy Rich Asians” and “China Rich Girlfriend” boasts local references, some of which are based on real individuals.
There’s Karen Davila, Josie Natori, Manny Pacquaio, and a young accessories designer whose name is forever etched in literary perpetuity.The words all decked out from which a major character is “showing off her exquisite Neil Felipp Suzy Wong minaudière .”
The 28-year-old Inquirer Look of Style winner Neil Felipp San Pedro still remains in a daze up to this day.
It is one thing to be immortalized in a book as delectable as its predecessors.
And another to be mentioned in the sumptuous bestseller that is “Rich People Problems.”Born and raised here in Cebu. Tagalog by blood. Cebuano at heart.
There is always something about the way he sets things in motion, arriving one sunny afternoon in an all-black airy getup for a tête-à-tête with the Play! pool.
Succinct to his forward and classic style, “a minaudière is French for bejewelled evening bag.It’s a very specific category that is meant for formal dresses. Intended for basic essentials like lip-stick, cell phone and cash, though most ladies don’t bring with them cash as they prefer plastic,” he tells us.
Inviting and warm, Neil Felipp warmed up with a bright smile and an excitement parallel to ours.
On being a mix of the old soul and a geek, his penchant for the sea— he is proof that with hard work, resilience and a sense of family—some guys can really have it all.
He’s out of the bag.
Did you always want to design bags?
I’ve always wanted to design, but I never knew what I wanted to design.
I always thought that I’d end up designing clothes because I remember that when I was young, I didn’t like what my yaya was wearing. So I was imagining and scribbling dresses for her. I told my mom, “Yaya is so nice to me but she looks ugly in her dress.
Can we make her look nicer? I don’t want those yaya outfits.”
I felt that back then because I just loved her and she was more than a yaya to me.
So the transition from clothes to bags … I thought that I was into clothes and then an opportunity presented itself to me with UP Cebu, because Kenneth Cobonpue was going to be one of the professors.
Back then we didn’t know each other, but he was always there for me. I remember my first encounter with him in a high school career symposium and I was one of those people who asked him.
I don’t think he remembered me back then; but I asked him,
Well, he just looked at me, smiled, and said: “Everything.”
The man must have made a mark on you .
He showed me his whole world of design. I then applied at UP for Industrial Design and then he accepted me to be one of his apprentices.
I was with him for three to four years.
I was studying college and being an apprentice at the same time. And then after I graduated I started to work on my brand. I really didn’t know what to do. I tried to do furniture and home accessories, and then that one time I tried to do clothes.
Tell us about the first bag you designed.
Okay, so there’s this one time that my mom was attending a formal event and her dress was really gorgeous. I think that was a midnight blue Philip Rodriguez gown. She was wearing an off-shoulder gown with a stunning white gold jewelry.
I remember looking at her and her shoes that were precisely perfect… and then I saw her bag, and it was not what I wanted. I said: “Mom, I’m going to make you a bag.”
And the experience of coming up with that bag?
I decided I’d make her a bag, but I didn’t know it was going to be hard because my mom is like my biggest critic.
She was the one who taught me—you can design a beautiful bag, but you have to make sure the woman who carries the bag can use it.
So I thought of my mom, I thought of Cebu, and those times when she would bring me to Shangri-La, the beach… Piecing it all together… I made my first bag.
I enjoyed the process, and since then, I’d repeat it in making my bags. I do dabble once in a while in making jewelry.
I would say I was not the best.
I was talking to Kenneth about this and I really didn’t have the best ideas, but the thing that he mentioned to me was that I was the most persevering, like I would never stop. Like I was the only one who graduated out of the seven apprentices.
You have to understand that the man is very meticulous, and he has a reason for that.
Also, I am little mischievous.
At times when I was designing I’d be playing DotA on the side. But seriously, I just kept at it
What was school like? And your immersion towards where you are now in the field of design?
In high school I went to Sacred Heart-Jesuit, now Ateneo De Cebu, and in college I went to UP Cebu.
Afterwards, when I won the Look of Style Awards in 2013, I was sent to UK for a special extensive global fashion program.
The program was for about a month, and it was very nice because in a way I was able to understand more about how global fashion works.
Understanding the trends, understanding the season, understanding how your brand can go beyond one’s shores—which was very vital.
It is one thing to know how to design, and another to know the entire business about it.
That’s one thing that my mentors told me—you may have the talent, but if you don’t have the business behind the talent, it is useless.
How did you end up in Kevin Kwan’s book?
That’s very interesting with Kevin Kwan.
We never met until recently.
The first time we met was during the book signing here.
Two years ago, Kevin Kwan had a Manila tour and one of my clients, who is also a journalist, Christine Dychiao… she brought one of my bags and Kevin posted it describing “there’s some crazy rich people here in Manila,” and then everybody just started tagging me.
I sent a direct message to Kevin thanking him for posting the photo. It was really nice because a compliment coming from him was really flattering. So from then on we started communicating and within those two years he asked me, “How do you find it if you’re in the book?”
That must have been surreal.
So this is the beauty of Instagram, he sent me a message, “Hey, I want to feature your designs in my new book.”
And so ever since then we have been communicating, and I can’t say anything beyond there already.
And Kris Aquino being part of the movie. Seriousl, she was very entertaining. She knew what she was doing.
Why choose Cebu to be your workplace instead of Manila?
I like to say I live in Cebu but I work globally.
There has been a lot of negotiations for me to stay in Manila but I just can’t.
The market is there however I find that my best inspirations are here in Cebu.
There’s something about Cebu that you just want to stay here.
I imagine Kenneth Cobonpue. He is one of my mentors, he has travelled the world, and he has seen everything, but his best inspirations actually come from Cebu.
There’s really something about Cebu that makes you want to stay, and for me, I love nature and the beach too much, you can’t make me stay too long in an urban jungle.
What do you do in your free time? I love to go down south, Moalboal. I am amazed by the sardine run. Let’s just say I am a sirena! I am not a licensed scuba diver, I just free dive though I am not a professional pa in diving.
When did this fascination with free diving start?
Eversince I was young, I didn’t know na it was free diving na pala but even then I have always loved the water.
My first bag that I created was The Mermaid.
It has always been a childhood fascination and I grew up watching Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” I remember when that animation came out in 1989.
For my sister to go to sleep, she had to watch “The Little Mermaid” and I had to watch, too.
I remember there was also a time when I already memorized and remembered all the lines, the scenes and the music… “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”
Who would be that dream celebrity to carry your bag? If it’s from the past it would be Audrey Hepburn.
More than being the fashion icon that she is, it is actually what she stood for and what she became afterwards—her being UNICEF Ambassador for Children.
One of our advocacies is education and we would want to later on, maybe by the end of the year, give part of our proceeds to scholarships.
I love Audrey Hepburn. Besides her beauty, she has substance, class, and she also knows when to have fun.
It has to be Angelina Jolie. More than her beauty it is her heart that I admire. Also Meryll Streep.
And in the Philippines, of course that would be Kim Jones.
I met the woman and she is quite the island girl. My God! She and her husband (actor Jericho Rosales) are a power couple.
What’s an ordinary day like for you? On weekdays, in the morning I would prepare my own food, then do a little workout, then be at the office and talk to my creative team.
After lunch, I would sneak in for Mobile Legends.
I know, I’m still a geek.
It is hard with DotA with all the computer; at least with Mobile Legends you can do it anywhere.
In the afternoon I would be with my operations team.
In the evening when I am home I’ll be reading a book and watch TV on the side.
So what are you reading right now? I am currently caught up with Kevin Kwan’s third book, “Rich People Problems.”
The funny thing is that I was only able to get the book when I was in the US.
The next book that I’ll read… probably I’ll go back to “Game of Thrones.”
What were you like as a child?
I was very hard-headed, mischievous, cunning, more liberal.
When I was a kid, when it was time for afternoon naps, I’d act as if I was asleep and then I’d crawl my way out.
They’d be wondering where I was, only to find out later that I was there in the playground.
Or I would run to my dogs, and my dogs would know I was sneaking because they would not bark.
And the geek in you? I have the prequels to Star Wars.
I still do a lot of gaming and you might see me in TimeZone one of these days playing Tekken.
I love this character that I choose. This girl has purple hair but actually she is a cyborg. Her hair becomes a grenade and her hands become a chainsaw.
I love her, Alisa Bosconovitch, she is very cute, like kawaii!
And when I start playing I am like… I am so sorry, everybody. But if a Korean is my opponent, I would walk out already!
Why?
They are gods, even when I play Starcraft I couldn’t beat them. They don’t have mercy like gods in the gaming world. Okay, we seem serious with my geeky side.
Well, that was fascinating.
Going back, what are you like as a boss?
I will never say I’m perfect but I always try to go with our company’s core values— have integrity and respect for one another, to reach out with compassion, and by assigned discipline.
And everything with the heart.
I have to admit that I hiccups here and there.
But we should be honest with each other as I want to be fair with everybody.
We can have arguments at work but at the end of the day we are still friends.
I do get their notes by the end of the month. It’s a way to emphasize that every voice matters, that it doesn’t matter what position you hold, that everybody is crucial in the big picture.
Because in the team, we want to treat each other more than co-workers, we want to be a family, and we are very happy that we are being challenged every day.
What has been the biggest challenge in running the business?
A lot! But I think for any brand it has always been on how to constantly stay relevant, because once you start to lose that, the brand becomes tossed already.
So not only on how do we keep the brand relevant, but also on how to ensure the brand equity.
I mean you can be relevant but how do you keep the brand value, so it’s always about trying to balance these things to keep the brand promise we have for our clients.
Who are your design inspirations?
For my latest collection, one of them is Astrid of “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Astrid has been a great inspiration because of the character that she is, and because she reminds me of another character that I named after my bag—Suzy Wong.
She is known in Asian literature as the hooker with the golden heart.
You would sob about her story because in the book there was a part when she has to let go of her child yet she remained strong.
And with Astrid in the book, there was this part wherein she has this close relations with her grandmother.
My grandparents at the eve of martial law, decided to leave Manila because it was just too dangerous, so they moved here.
And I have a very strong connection with my grandmother, so it’s very fitting to see how she would look like with the bag.
I am also inspired by Dyno Riders, which all brings me back to my childhood.
And the coral reefs, we want to help communities preserve and conserve it, you know, part of our giving back.
What should we be looking up to in your upcoming collection? Watch out for the coming months because we are launching a new material.
More like we are working on paper and parchments, with the shades and the skin… the whole bag looks like marble.
How are things business-wise? I am excited for how things turned out, most especially that before it was only me and now we are a team of six.
I started doing it by myself for four years and got a team for next three years.
I mean accounting and being creative is not a joke. Sometimes you would question what you’re doing, but in the end it’s worth it.
What’s your message to aspiring designers?
Keep moving forward.
That has been my mantra ever since.
In my seven years, until now, there are still a lot of challenges.
I guess, a lot of people don’t see that.
No matter what happens, even if you fall, you just keep moving forward. The man who said this was Walt Disney.
Eventually you will find where you want to be, just don’t give up.