Meet the Village Chief: Russell Villafuerte on the Four Things Local Fashion Needs

For designer Russell Villafuerte, the future of Philippine fashion rests on these four facets: representation, sustainability, cultural relevance, and growth of the raw materials industry

This is an excerpt from MEGA’s October 2023 Designer Profile

With an interior design degree and no formal training or education in fashion, Russell Villafuerte joined Project Runway Philippines Season 2 right after graduating college in 2009. It was his first fashion design crash course—and he finished second place. 

“It took me nine years to find and own my real voice as a fashion designer,” Villafuerte says. “I’m someone who’s very curious and overflowing with creative ideas. I want to try and do things I haven’t done before. I did couture, wedding, leatherwear, costumes, and avant garde. The one thing I always go back to, however, is my love for deconstructing, repurposing, and upcycling.” 

It was something Villafuerte had been doing even before he started in fashion. But because representation for such a niche was absent in the media, he didn’t think it was a viable and appealing aesthetic and advocacy. The time he truly embraced this design advocacy was when he launched his line Strongvillage in 2018. 

“I don’t sketch,” the designer reveals. “The pieces I want to do remain a mystery until I’m done with them. My process is actually really fluid. I base my designs on the second hand pieces (either thrifted or donated) that I can get. I let those pieces speak to me.”

With this collection, however, it’s different for Villafuerte because the initial goal was to create pieces based on the color blocking idea. This was a marriage of his namesake brand Russell Villafuerte, which is risqué, feminine, and colorful, and Strongvillage, which is street, gender neutral, and denim-centric.

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Discover why Russell Villafuerte is the rightful “village chief” of his era in MEGA’s October 2023 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.

Creative Direction JONES PALTENG. Fashion Direction KAT CRUZ-VILLANUEVA and RYUJI SHIOMITSU. Beauty Direction MIA CASTRO. Photography JV RABANO. Makeup EMMAN MAGPANTAY. Hair TJ RIMOCAL. Styling CHRISTOPHER ALERTA and KURT ABONAL. Model DANIELLE of IM AGENCY. Shot on location ONE HECTARE CREATIVE GROUNDS. Sittings Editor BAM ABELLON. Fashion Writer MARIAN SAN PEDRO. Fashion Production BITHIA REYES. Editorial Assistant SAM ESTANIEL. Special thanks to CAREL LEE TAN of ONE HECTARE CREATIVE GROUNDS, and CLYDE RIVERA of IM AGENCY.

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Meet the Village Chief: Russell Villafuerte on the Four Things Local Fashion Needs
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