BGC, Philippines– “In this day and age, women’s natural feminine energy is being washed down by the girl boss culture,” Rica Rico, founder and fashion designer of clothing line of the same name, shared in an interview with STYLISH.
The hate train against international TikToker Nara Smith over her August 2024 GQ Magazine interview about her from-scratch-cooking videos, family-focused and ‘trad wife aesthetic’ content can attest to this observation. There’s so much criticism on the Internet these days thrown at women who embrace traditional wife duties and stay-at-home lifestyle, usually centered on romanticizing the way they are catering to their husband and kids, with visually-rich videos of them doing household chores while donning floral dresses or perfect Stepford wife outfits.
That is why Rica decided to develop the design vision of her clothing label around the concept of catering to the women who are unapologetic of their softness, girliness and femininity.
Known for its dainty, lovely, whimsical womenswear pieces, the Rica Rico clothing label is one of the go-to fashion studios right now in the metro of women who are into the trad wife, girly styling.
“I believe that there are different types of femininity, and every girl has a right to feel good about their choice of lifestyle and personal fashion. I’ve observed that cool girls or it-girls usually frown upon the overly feminine women. They perceive being feminine as equal to being weak or dull. “
“I believe there’s power in femininity and softness. It is about time that we refrain from looking down on housewives, and they should not be made to feel embarrassed about their choices. There’s more to them beyond being housewives and moms, because they lead their family and household too, and they thrive in their innate nourishing power,” Rica added.
“The Rica Rico fashion house is for the fearlessly feminine women.”
When this Filipina fashion designer first opened her atelier back in 2018, she was more than happy about the reception of the market, as she recalled female clientele who were really into the girly aesthetic of her brand.
“We initially opened as a custom-made womenswear studio and a bridal shop. You’ll be surprised at the number of women who embraced our feminine designs. Our shop in San Juan mostly catered to the housewives, mostly Chinese, and they loved our floral dresses and girly creations,” she narrated.
After a couple of successful years in San Juan, Rica had to move her studio to Sta. Mesa in response to the global pandemic.
“I didn’t want my production staff to commute during the pandemic anymore, so I housed them in a townhouse in Sta. Mesa where we had our production space, reception and studio all under one roof. This was when we pivoted to creating face masks too, which transitioned into the production of loungewear, and then eventually, into our own manufacturing business of uniforms. When the pandemic protocols eased out, we realized that we can actually offer ready-to-wear pieces, too. So now, Rica Rico fashion studio both offer custom-made fashion and ready-to-wear womenswear, all centered on soft, feminine, and girly design concept.”
Rica Rico offers tops, separates and dresses within the price range of 3,990php to 17,990php under her ready-to-wear category, and 18,000php and up for custom-made.
Rica was in her high school days when she realized she wanted to become a fashion designer. Coming from a family of lawyers and doctors, being a creative was not exactly an ideal plan. Her father was not on-board of her goal at first, but supported her college course of choice anyway. Rica took up Fashion Design and Merchandising from 2007 to 2012 at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Manila.
“I was always expected to be a lawyer, but I’m glad my family eventually supported my dream of becoming a fashion designer. I am the first-ever creative in our family,” she said.
After acquiring her college degree, Rica worked as a merchandiser for international brand Guess wherein she was doing the tasks of a fashion buyer. After that, she also worked as a fashion designer at Apartment 8 clothing line. Both stints strengthen her skills and mindset needed to eventually launch her own brand.
“With Rica Rico, I wanted to finally be my own person which can be seen in my designs. I was always given the creative freedom in my past jobs, but there’s also a special kind of freedom from expressing myself even more authentically in my designs, with no restrictions. Currently, our fashion house offers feminine clothing creations from tops, skirts, long dresses, jumpsuits and rompers, with designs based on the themes of our collections. We usually do summer and holiday collections per year.”
“Our ready-made feminine wear are usually for the clients who shop last minute for certain events they need to go to. That’s how we first offered our RTW too actually, because we cannot always offer custom-made for those who need dresses or gowns for events in a hurry.”
New Collection
These days, Rica is preparing to launch her new collection dubbed as “Halimuyak” which is inspired by the oil on canvas painting titled “Maiden in a Flower Garden,” the 1948 work of Filipino national artist Fernando Amorsolo.
“I conceptualized the ‘Halimuyak’ collection inspired by surrounding the concept of the traditional Dalagang Filipina as depicted in the Amorsolo painting. We are featuring feminine wear in various shades of beige. The idea is for the clientele to be inspired to stop and smell the flowers. In this fast-paced world, it is good to be reminded of the goodness of taking it slow, cherishing life and being in our feminine energy. That is what ‘Halimuyak’ collection is all about.”
The fashion series is also in partnership with ArteFino, poised to be launched on August 22 during the event.
MX Studio shoe manufacturer is based in Manila, and well-known for creating shoes for the footwear collections of Filipino fashion designers Mark Bumgarner and Vania Romoff.
“Our latest collection will stay true to our feminine design identity. We at Rica Rico fashion house believe that we need to celebrate womanhood in all of its glory and in all of its forms. Because without femininity, it seems like there’s no balance in nature and in our society. Softness in womanhood is natural and should be celebrated. We want to put the spotlight on the women who feel empowered by their femininity and girliness. Be it for the girl boss or the trad wife, we have something for all types of women at Rica Rico.”
The Rica Rico “Halimuyak” collection will be unveiled at the ArteFino event on August 22-25 at The Fifth at Rockwell, Power Plant Mall in Makati City. To learn more about Rica Rico fashion house, you may follow the brand on Instagram @ricaricostudio or visit www.ricaricoph.com.
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