JC Buendia: In God’s perfect time
I first met the designer JC Buendia more than two decades ago—I worked with him a few times back when I was working at Metro magazine and was helping organize Metrowear fashion shows. Metro then often worked with the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines, and with JC as a member (and later on FDCP president), he was always one of the designers featured in those shows. Through the years, in the few times that I would run into him, our conversations would often revolve around what TV series or movie to watch, and that would often be reflected in his work—timeless, glamorous, polished—reminiscent of Hollywood icons like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, and fashion icons like Babe Paley.
This year, the invitation from Red Charity Gala to present a solo show is more than a professional milestone. It is the culmination of four decades of creativity, perseverance and quiet belief that, somehow, the right opportunity would come at the right time. “Every time I would run into a colleague at the Red Charity Gala, he would often ask when it would be my turn to have a show, and I would always say, in God’s perfect time,” says JC.
Modest beginnings
As a young boy, JC loved drawing. He loved sketching Disney princesses—Sleeping Beauty being his favorite—and since his mom was a doctor, JC would often use his mom’s prescription pads for his drawings. He was also fond of having his own puppet shows, using foam to make a likeness of characters like Miss Piggy, another childhood favorite.
In high school, after reading the Judith Krantz novel Scruples, JC realized that fashion design was what he wanted to do. “I was so fascinated with the character of Valentine in the book, a fashion designer. She grew up in the atelier of Pierre Balmain, where her mother was a seamstress and she was hiding under the petticoats… Up until reading that book, I didn’t know what a fashion designer was—and it all made sense after realizing I liked drawing figures of women and how their clothes moved,” he shares.
An autobiography of the late designer Yves Saint Laurent, who became a designer at age 17, also inspired him.
Like his mother, grandfather, and uncles, JC was expected to pursue medicine, but he pleaded to pursue the arts, studying fine arts at the University of Santo Tomas, then pattern making and sewing at Slim’s Fashion & Arts School to formalize his study in pattern making and sewing.
His first job led him to work with different Filipino fashion designers like the late Cesar Gaupo, Ernest Santiago, Danny Dela Cuesta, and Auggie Cordero. The designers then had their own ready-to-wear lines, and JC would often coordinate with them and their business partner/manufacturer at that time. It was Cordero who advised him to read Vanity Fair to be able to better converse with his clients. Unbenownst to many, it was also Cordero who told JC to use the brand name JC, instead of using his real name Julius Caesar, because it sounded better as a brand.
Behind the scenes, he was also being mentored by known designers, as when the Filipino Designers Group held their yearly gala shows at The Manila Hotel. “I was backstage witnessing everything unfold,” he says.
In his early career, he was working for local brands as a “ghost designer”; however, he went on hiatus in the ’90s. “I felt I was not going anywhere because the trend then was grunge, and I didn’t resonate with it,” he says.
During this time, he went abroad and toured around the US. JC was ready to leave the fashion world behind, and even thought about working as a florist. However, a phone call from a friend in New York convinced him to go home to the Philippines and establish his shop.
Big break
It was the recommendation of former model and writer Joanne Zapanta-Andrada, who commissioned him to make clothes for then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, that gave him a big break. He gained media attention for the suits Arroyo wore to various state visits and later when she assumed the presidency. “The former President didn’t have much time to fit, so I had my secret weapon in my mother, who wore the exact size as her,” he said.
In his four decades in fashion, Buendia has dressed prominent figures and celebrities, from then-President Noynoy Aquino, his sister Kris Aquino, actor-turned-politician Vilma Santos-Recto, to actresses and actors like Maricel Soriano, Agot Isidro, and Coco Martin, to name a few.
His second wind came in 2018, when he became one of the mentors of the inaugural TernoCon, a fashion competition created to promote contemporary interpretations of the Philippine terno.
The finalists and mentors presented their collections at the CCP Main Theater, with the makeshift runway built on the orchestra seating and the audience seated onstage.
He took the familiar silhouette and reduced it to a cropped terno top with smaller butterfly sleeves and a mid-calf skirt. To represent Luzon, he worked with inabel, piña, and luxury fabrics. His interpretation made the terno wearable for day.
Unknown to many, Buendia had inherited the sleeve mold of the late designer Joe Salazar. Months before Salazar died of throat cancer in 2004, Buendia worked with him and was assigned to make Arroyo’s terno for her 2003 state visit to Washington DC. After Salazar’s death, his longtime assistant brought the sleeve mold to Buendia. This mold gave the sleeve enough space for the arm, allowing women to move more freely.
Working through grief and health problems
Personal struggles forced JC to take a pause, a space for reflection and growth. When I ran into JC a few weeks ago at a dinner for Red Charity Gala, it had been several months since the passing of his beloved mother, Corazon, who passed at 86; I was unaware he’d been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer a few years prior. He says his condition is currently inactive and he’s continuing immunotherapy treatments. At the time of his diagnosis, he chose not to tell other people about it, out of concern for his mother who was battling dementia. His only regret is that he would have wanted his mother to see his upcoming show.
He’s stopped taking client orders for now, focusing instead on the Red Charity Gala, and shares how he channeled his grief into the collection as a tribute to his late mother.
The 45-piece collection, five of them his modern interpretation of menswear, is a reflection of the designer embracing what comes next—more about redefining luxury and glamour in keeping with the needs of the modern woman. His collection, which will be presented Oct. 3 at The Peninsula Manila in Makati City, is built around the idea that glamour and comfort do not have to be opposites. “I want a woman to feel glamorous, but completely at ease—and I think that is a very modern kind of glamour,” he says.
Buendia names the late model and style icon Tina Chow as an inspiration, who’s minimalist elegance was the opposite to the excess of the ‘80s fashion. The collection also draws from Asian fashion, particularly the fluidity of the tunic, the freedom of high slits and the roominess of the kimono. Buendia was also inspired by the long, lean silhouettes of the ao dai and cheongsam. “I softened the silhouettes and used softer, sheer fabrics instead of stiff material,” he says.
At 61, after his mother’s passing and his cancer treatment, JC felt it was time to give back. He decided to teach fashion and color theory at Jojie Lloren’s FAB Creatives. It was also a learning experience for him, he says, trying to understand the different way of thinking of his students.
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Red Charity Gala is presented by Bench, in cooperation with Diagold, Emirates, Jewelmer and The Peninsula Manila, with additional support from Cointreau, Crate &Barrel, Genteel Home Grafik Pinehouse Baguio, Loca Loka, Maison De Rivoli, Quest Plus Clark and Mimosa Golf, The Bellevue Manila, The Bellevue Resort and Woodbridge, with special thanks to Adworks Manila, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Doreen Odvina shoes, Fab Creatives, Fuentes Manila, Robert Blancaflor group, 18th.ph and Usana.