Apparel | Sunday, June 06, 2010

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SUCCESS WITH SUPIMA: More about Robin Tomas

By Greg Wang

MANILA—Ever since being named a winner in the 2010 Supima Design Competition, which had its dramatic runway finale at the New York Times Building in midtown Manhattan earlier this year, Robin Tomas has been all over the international news.

His latest?

A profile in the Manila Bulletin.

Writing in an article titled TESSIE’S FASHION DESIGNER SON ROBIN MAKES GOOD IN NY, here’s what reporter Annie S. Alejo had to say:

It began as a “torrid love affair with New York City.” Soon enough, Robin Tomás has turned his passion into a remarkable reality that takes his name from the hallowed grounds of Parsons School of Design into the midst of the celebrated fashion scene.

Tomás, 33, the only son of comedienne Tessie Tomas, tells ABS-CBN show “Bandila” in a recent interview, “I’m very very proud to say that I’m truly Pinoy and I’m trying to make it here in the big city, in New York. I think this is just the right venue for me to do that.”

A veritable cultural hotspot, New York is indeed a perfect place to grow for any creative soul; it certainly is a good place to be for any aspiring fashion designer. A thriving, pulsating city of dreams, it has its own share of notorious trendsetters and fashionistas, major fashion publications, gorgeous models, the best PR firms, and a good chunk of the wealthiest social elite.

Here landed Tomás, a UP Diliman graduate with a degree in graphic design, to enter Parsons in 2002 after working for two years in an advertising agency in Manila. Parsons’ School of Fashion, of course, counts some of the biggest name in the industry as its alumni—Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Tom Ford, and Anna Sui, to name a few.

Tomás, who admitted he didn’t really know he was going to find himself in the fashion industry, then went on to simultaneous internships at Valentino and Anna Sui. And further honing his creative skills, he was soon designing menswear for the likes of GAP, J. Crew, and Tommy Hilfiger.

In Januray this year, Tomás was recognized in the Supima Design Competition, held at the Time Center in Manhattan’s Garment District.

There were seven talented upcoming designers that participated, each of whom was given the chance to showcase his or her capsule collections—three pieces of women’s evening wear and a T-shirt design—to an audience of buyers, retailers, fashion editors, and industry movers and shakers. Tomás earned the award for the best reinvention of the men’s T-shirt—on his first try at designing a T-shirt at that.

His winning shirt design—featuring a triple layer of the stretchy type, soft Supima cotton fabric—is now part of the Supima collection. Currently in production in Canada, the shirts will be sold exclusively in Bloomingdale’s in the U.S. before the year ends.

“He’s a very talented designer…very edgy, very New York,” Francesca Hermijanto, marketing director of Supima Cotton, tells “Bandila.” Supima (Superior Pima Cotton) is the organization that represents American pima cotton growers.

“The biggest thing that I learned from my mom is the value of hard work and the value of humility,” Tomás says of his mother, Tessie, who was on hand at the competition in New York to cheer proudly for her son.

Tomás, who has launched his own collection at the Philippine Fashion Week last year, says he is currently looking to grow his winning shirt design into a capsule collection that he hopes to make available in Manila as well. But more than that, and with the experience and exposure he’s received from the Supima Design Competition, Tomás is also working to establish his own label—TOMAS.