By Aubreylaine M. Salazar
Photos by Dix Perez
Patty Ang has seen her life take the sharpest of twists and turns, yet the soon-to-wed fashion designer took on life’s greatest challenges with finesse and exemplary resilience. Her family life and business ventures hit a lot of bumps along the way, which tested her resolve to the limits. But Patty did not falter.
Here’s a brief account on how this fearless and feisty 25-year-old designer and CEO turned her passion for fashion into an inspiring success story:
#1: Patty always knew what she wanted to do–fashion.
“Some people take a lifetime to figure out what they really want,” she says, but she is not one of those people. The minimalist designer had to set aside her knack for dressmaking after being waitlisted at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, where she was originally planning to train and discover her own brand of designing.
Instead, De La Salle University became her home for four years while she took up Behavioral Sciences, but, of course, her heart for fashion did not disappear. She would later on take a five-month fashion design course at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines before she ventured full time into designing.
#2: Back in college, she tried to give her passion for garment-making a go, but she was swamped by quite a number of challenges.
Patty had prepared everything before embarking on her first venture into fashion, including sewing machines and mannequins–or so she thought. The aspiring designer’s skills and knowledge in fashion were indubitable. Unfortunately, she had yet to learn the basics of managing a business. Patty hired a sewer who took advantage of her naiveté. “Even if it failed, I learned a lot from it,” she admits. After acknowledging the setbacks, she said that it was really the passion to design that kept her from faltering and finally giving up on her dreams.
#3: After living through her first major setback, Patty, fresh out of college, invested in a now fairly successful gastropub, Tipsy Pigg. It, in turn, almost hindered her from opening her own atelier.
She would spend her days in cafés people-watching, taking inspiration from fashionable people who walk by and from the many beautiful places she and her fiancé went to. Patty really loved designing to the point that she wanted it to be a career. But her acquired skills and innate eye for fashion would not have been showcased to the public had she not managed to convince her stepmother Grace to lend her P300,000.
#4: Her parents (although separated) and her fiancé played a huge part in making Atelier Patty Ang a success.
Despite her father’s seeming doubt at her ambition and resolve to make it big in fashion, she managed to make her single-room Atelier Patty Ang a reality in Eastwood City back in 2014. Fortunately, Miguel, her soon-to-be spouse, came to her aid before her business hit rock bottom. She also has her father, CATS Motors owner Felix Ang, as well as her mother Janeth to thank for their constant and sound advice. Now, her production area and atelier, with a growing staff of about 30 people, are housed on the 16th floor of W Tower, 39th Street in Taguig City.
#5: Although her work is starting to get recognized in the international fashion scene, Patty wants to take her time because she wants, for the moment, to remain hands-on.
Her signature style, which she defines as “minimalistic, semi-structured, and flowy,” has caught the eye of a growing number of fashionistas the world over. She dreams of doing a show outside the country, in places like Paris and London.
She has had her fair share of invitations to stage fashion shows abroad, but Patty would often decline. She says, “I just want to make sure that I have the actual pieces to back it up in case there’s demand. I’m always mindful of the business side and the fact that I’m carrying not only my name, but the country’s as well.”
Patty is proud, but she tries her best to keep her feet on the ground. Since she wants to be hands-on, she does not want to hire an assistant designer or business managers. She also knows the importance of listening to her clients.
The young mother has been doing made-to-order clothes for quite a while now, but she promises to be more into ready-to-wear from hereon. She understands the huge business potentials involved in RTW.
(This blog post was culled from Alex Y. Vergara’s article on Patty Ang, True Grit, which was published in the April-May 2018 issue of PeopleAsia.)
