ONLY a few Filipino fashion designers are as universally beloved as Cesar Gaupo. To say that the local industry is devastated because of the death of a true talent is an understatement. As news spread of his passing on January 19, Saturday, I sought out some of his closest friends for their thoughts. A number are still reeling from the tremendous loss, rendered speechless and processing their grief.
Here’s what I wrote about the great designer in 2010: “One of Manila’s modern design masters, Gaupo’s fabled career is marked by romanticism, sensuality and humility. Trained by the legendary likes of Aureo Alonzo and Salvacion Lim Higgins, Gaupo’s place in the fashion pantheon is assured and entrenched.
He is a long-standing designer for SM’s womenswear section.”
After an acclaimed, enviable stint at the Hong Kong-based Shanghai Tang, he didn’t renew his contract, putting an end to a high-flying career that took him to all the fashion capitals. “I know it’s a stupid thing to say that one reason I refused to continue working for the company was because I hate to fly,” he said with a laugh during a previous interview, explaining that the endless trunk shows and boundless meetings made him pine more and more for his laidback, unassuming lifestyle back in Manila. “But I enjoyed my work at Shanghai Tang. I learned a lot. It was from there that I knew what my caliber is. I realized from people of authority in fashion that I have what it takes.”
“Cesar was the first president of the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines in 1981, while I was FDAP secretary. He was a strong, creative force in uplifting the image of the Filipino fashion designer, and in uniting designers to compete in fashion shows abroad. He pioneered also in the local ready-to-wear scene, with SM since the late 1970s, alongside Lulu Tan-Gan, Caloy Badidoy, Bubum Melgar and Tonichi Nocom,” said Gaupo’s peer Barge Ramos.
Gaupo was celebrating his 72nd birthday on Friday night, attended by fellow designers and supermodel-best friends. He died in his sleep at his Rockwell condo sometime on Saturday morning.
“Your passing this morning has made me so sad,” Ivarluski Aseron, one of Gaupo’s fave younger designers, posted on his Facebook. “One time I called you Nanay but you insisted we were sisters. I clearly remember you among the crowd giving me a thumbs up on my first ever major group show. You will never know that gesture gave me one of the biggest inspirations when I was starting as a designer. For that, I thank you and I love you.”
The one who Gaupo actually considered his industry child was JC Buendia.
“Cesar has always been proud to say ‘Anak ko ’yan! Anak ko sa Swiso,’” Buendia recalled. “I started my career in fashion as his assistant. He didn’t force me to follow his style, but instead encouraged me to find my own voice.”
Did Gaupo discover you or did you apply to work for him? I asked. “I couldn’t forget the Manila Women’s Wear cover of Cesar, Lulu and Pando [Manipon]. So when I saw an ad that he needed an assistant, I went to apply,” Buendia said. “I did his diffusion line, Thesa, for SM in the late-1980s.”
By all accounts, Gaupo was a gregarious person. “Out of work, he taught me how to stay bagets and have fun. I never got his Rick Astley moves though, but he was really good on the dance floor,” Buendia fondly shared. “Cesar never mentioned [if he was sick], he was more concerned about me because of my weight.”
Hairstyling great Henri Calayag echoed this sentiment: “I will forever miss Cesar’s laughter, his humor and his animated actions on every kwento he makes. He was generous, kind, accommodating in every way. We’ve come a long way since the early-1970s, and you can always count on Cesar’s goodness and his good soul! What a way to go—celebrate and say your goodbyes.”
Veteran publicist Toots Tolentino also paid tribute to Gaupo in a Facebook post: “In the 1980s, as a contributing writer for People magazine edited by Jullie Yap Daza, our PR colleague Vera Isberto introduced Cesar to me for a fashion pictorial. Since then, we have had the highest respects for his fashion ideology and dictum. With his other equally prolific jobs and the many more palettes he has shown and shared to the industry here and abroad, Cesar Gaupo and his body of work will always be remembered: a fashion legacy from a legendary designer. Bravo, Cesar!”
Gaupo did several shows in the course of a highly successful career. The one I can’t forget, though, is when he closed Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011. “With an impeccably cut, fabric-perfect and color-specific collection, the diminutive designer still stands tall among designers. Using his trademark sensuous draping of soft and flowing materials, such as silk, satin, chiffon, organza, gazar and tulle, Gaupo created dresses and ensembles with clever, non-cliche construction full of youthful vigor,” I wrote after the show.
The entire Hall 2 of the SMX Convention Center was lined with cogon grass as curtains, with a nipa hut centerpiece installation, a guitar as the backdrop music and the atmosphere approximating the provincial feel of his resort house in Majayjay, Laguna. The production design reflected Gaupo’s character: calm, simple, serene.
Another frequent collaborator, Ariel Lozada, said this show is also his favorite: “I have produced and directed most of Cesar Gaupo’s shows but this one keeps playing in my head. Cesar is one designer who was always in the moment and has embraced the now age of fashion. Our collaborations started from Fashion Watch, Asean Design Show 1 and 2, Gaupo Gala at the PICC Bridgewalk [the longest runway],
and many others that bonded our trust for each other creatively. From the very depths of my heart, I thank Cesar. Bravo, Cesar Gaupo!”
Cesar Gaupo modernized Philippine fashion, being one of the trailblazers of the retailing scene.
“When I design, I look at what’s good and what’s best, and I think of the woman who can appreciate it,” he said of his design sensibility, later adding with nary a hint of arrogance, “I have nowhere else to go because I have already reached the top.”
Image credits: PHILIPPINEFASHIONWEEK LIVE.COM