Keith Lafuente Explores Filipino American Fashion through Ternos, Anime and Boy’s Love
Keith Lafuente as his drag persona Mahal Kita. All photos courtesy of the artist.
Don’t call Keith Lafuente a fashion designer – or do, he’s not quite sure what he is at the moment. What we can say is this New Jersey-based artist is using his fashion collections and introspective storytelling to explore what is ‘Filipino-ness’ and flipping traditional Pinoy fashion into fun and fashion-forward pieces that anyone can wear. Originally studying fine art at Carnegie Mellon University, Lafuente shifted into fashion by learning how to sew through Youtube videos. He is known for infusing his Filipino heritage with anime, cosplay, and gaming – from a perfectly constructed terno with Boy’s Love (BL) graffiti on the sleeve to a 3-D animated fashion presentation inspired by Beijing opera costumes and Japanese archery gear that looks like high fashion Tekken characters.
We chatted with the talented creative about everything from his fashion inspirations to why he really started exploring his Filipino identity.
Detachable terno sleeves on Ana Roxanne. Photo by Tammy Nguyễn
Where do you get your fashion inspirations from?
Keith Lafuente: Just from day to day life! I can be inspired by anything and everything, so it’s really more a matter of editing down to two or three main ideas per collection. I do have some recurring inspirations like Filipino traditional garments, childhood experiences, and anime.
How did you get into making Filipino clothing?
KL: I've always had an interest in fashion but never realized that it was an actual thing I can do until much later. In art school, I started playing around with clothing because of its proximity to the body and as a way to play with gender and sexuality. After college, I used clothing to explore my Filipino heritage as I grew up in New Jersey without any sort of Filipino community, or any Asian community to be honest. When I started doing research [on Filipino heritage], the terno sleeves were the one super iconic thing that defined modern Filipino fashion. That was my first exploration and at that point, there was nothing online about how to make a terno sleeve so I figured out how to make it myself through Youtube videos.
What inspired you to add anime, gaming, and Boy’s Love (BL) references into your clothes and fashion presentations?
KL: I grew up gaming and watching anime, and I've always wanted to channel the fantasy, beauty, and power I feel from those sources into my fashion. BL, on the other hand, is not something I grew up with, but it is something I desperately wanted. I think it would've been a game-changer had I been able to grow up with BL – I think maybe I would have felt less alone.
A still from Lafuente’s SS21 collection
Are there any fashion designers, muses, or artists that inspire you and your work?
KL: Yeah, I've had this reluctance to not only identify as a fashion designer and I think it’s more about not wanting to fully commit to the fashion industry – I'm still figuring it out. Those identifiers are in flux for me. My all-time favorite designer is Alexander Mcqueen. Other designers I admire include Charlotte Knowles, Gogo Graham, and Carl Jan Cruz. Cosplayers are also incredibly inspiring. Paul Thek and Meriem Bennani are artists I think about a lot and my muses are all my friends and chosen fam.
How do you mix up traditional Filipino fashion?
KL: There was this quote online, I don't remember where or who it was from, but they say the Asian Americans who immigrate somewhere else cling to the culture of their homeland as it was at a certain time. They remain in that bubble of nostalgia whereas the motherland continues to evolve the culture. As I didn't grow up in the Filipino culture or community, I feel freer to play around with it. I'm not as precious or reverent about certain things. Although there is a line that you don't want to cross appropriating Indigenous cultures, at the same time I think it's important to move forward and not have to preserve an idea but rather express what it is now and what it could be.
You mentioned you didn't have a lot of Filipino connections growing up, so were you raised more American?
KL: Yeah, I was raised more American. My family [wasn’t] doing Filipino traditions like clothing and dance, it was more like family interaction. Not because my mom didn't want me to learn, but because I was surrounded by Americans. I don't know if it was reluctance as a child so I can be part of the other kids or my mom saw it as easier not to talk about that stuff as much. It is what it is, but I'm excited to get back into that aspect of my identity.
A piece from Lafuente’s SS17 collection
How does it feel learning about your culture through outside media and your own self-education?
KL: I have moments where I wonder if this is something that is supposed to be so inherent to who I am, why am I studying about it in a book or online? How can I talk about Filipino culture if I haven’t experienced it or don't really know about it? I still feel that today in different ways. I was putting this expectation on myself and feeling I was insufficient or it wasn't enough. I do feel like I have FOMO missing out on having that as part of my upbringing. I feel that disconnect, but at the same time, we all learn our culture in different ways. I don't think one is better than the other per se.
Have you talked to your mom about your journey to learning about Filipino culture?
KL: Yeah, I think she's excited. In the beginning, I asked, “Why didn't you teach me?” and she said well you didn't want to learn. I think she's wondering why I am learning this if we are in America. You don't come to America and expect your children to be too excited to learn about the Philippines. Even the things that I learned about the Philippines [aren't] necessarily what she knows about the Philippines. Her experience about being Filipino is super different from what I learned from a book or the internet. Overall I think my mom is pretty happy and she's even trying to teach me Tagalog again. Even though we get along, we don't talk about super serious stuff so I think it’s a great way to connect with her.
“For me being an authentic Filipino isn’t about how much Filipino culture I know, it’s me living my life. You don’t have to measure this idea of how Filipino you are based on certain traits. If you’re Filipino, whatever you do is inherently Filipino in its own way.”
There was something you said in the Gay Newsletter that I thought was really interesting, ‘Authenticity doesn’t equal purity’. What did you mean by that?
KL: I was thinking authenticity, in general, isn't a metric that we need to measure up to. The idea of authenticity in itself is flawed because what people think is “authentic” is the pure version, like if being authentically Filipino means going back to pre-colonial Indigenous culture. For me being an authentic Filipino isn't about how much Filipino culture I know, it's me living my life. You don't have to measure this idea of how Filipino you are based on certain traits. It's more about doing what feels right for you. If you're Filipino, whatever you do is inherently Filipino in its own way.
What moment made you want to explore Filipino culture?
KL: My desire to connect with my Filipino heritage came out of this feeling of romantic rejection. In college, I was coming into my queerness and exploring that aspect of my identity first. There’s this comedian, Joel Kim Booster, who said he knew he was gay before he knew he was Asian and I feel like that’s really true in my experience. To be gay, there’s a standard that I wasn’t living up to, White and twinkie, and I was striking out romantically. I couldn’t tell if it's me, or if it's because I’m Asian or Filipino? I didn't approach Filipino-ness from a grounded place, more like why doesn’t anyone like me?
What has the response been like regarding your collections?
KL: I have had a lot of Filipinos reach out to me saying they never thought they could see our culture in this kind of light and that's really gratifying for me. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right. I'm hoping I'm showing something different from what already exists. I can broaden what it means to be a Filipino in a way.
Model: Panthera Lush
Since doing these collections, has your Filipino circle opened up?
KL: It definitely broadened my Filipino circle in a huge way, it’s one of my favorite parts doing these collections. I know so many more Filipinos now and they're all doing such amazing creative work. I'm inspired by them so much.
It's also interesting to experience firsthand how this Filipino American community – at least in New York City – is super different. We all have different experiences and relationships with our Filipino heritage. I feel lucky to know being Filipino is not a monolith.
So true! Lastly, any new collections coming out?
KL: I did my very first video shoot and it's about pageantry. It’s a bit more absurd than a normal pageant, very queer. It's not a commentary about pageants but more about what are the metrics that we use to judge ourselves? Competition versus community. Who are we performing, and who are we performing for? I cast all queer Filipinos in the community. I'm super excited and hopefully will be able to release it by the end of summer or September-ish, stay tuned!
Check out Keith’s designs in our cover shoot with Pearl Teese x We Are The Ones in Hella Pinay Issue 01.
CAMAY ABRAHAM
INSTAGRAM/TIKTOK: @CAMAYBRAHAM | REFLEKT MAGAZINE
Camay Abraham (she/her) is a Filipino-American journalist and researcher focusing on fashion, tech, beauty, and Asian and Asian American culture. Graduating with a Master’s in Applied Psychology in Fashion from London College of Fashion, she has written for magazines such as Dazed and Preview and been interviewed by Vice and Deutsche Welle Media. Other than aspiring to be the next Asian Carine Roitfeld, she aims to widen Filipino representation in the fashion world - as well as the real world.