PURVEYR—Radio: Prologue 008 with Rik Rasos — A conversation about fashion labels, culture, and industry

In this episode of Prologue, Rik Rasos, creative director of Proudrace and Proudrace Studios, shared with us how they managed to grow a fashion label that started out as a mere hobby. At a time when clothes were sold in Multiply, Rik Rasos mustered his experience as a stylist and as a retail manager to push their brand outside the country’s borders.

From the get go, Rik Rasos knew where his life would lead him, especially when he shared with us that his childhood was spent around creating clothes, buying materials, and selling them to clients. Pointing out his source for contemporary pop culture, he admitted how the 90’s and 00’s eras of MTV influenced his fashion identity — and if not MTV, skater magazines that he got from his cousins in the States. We also discussed his experiences with interning for one of the big names in fashion, and how he used his skills in styling and retail management to turn Proudrace into a brand that is sold in over seventeen cities outside the Philippines.

In his personal experience in handling a business, Rik Rasos was honest but, more importantly, idealistic. He did not sugar coat on the challenges they encountered when they were starting out, like creating an entire batch of orders by himself, determining the identity of a brand that they never thought would sell, and how they navigated through the different fashion scenes and culture both here and abroad. But throughout the challenges they had to go through, he still highlighted why people need to believe and invest in the talent of the Filipino people.

Aside from discussing the story of Proudrace, Rik Rasos shared his perspectives on the general landscape of the Filipino fashion industry — from a comparative discussion of RTW’s and made-to-order clothes, to why one should be faithful to the purpose and the vision of their brand.