Have you ever felt that life has something more to offer than just the path laid out for you? There may come a time in your life when you have to choose to either take the road you’re told to walk on, or forge your own and follow your passion. The latter can be a difficult decision. But sometimes, taking risks can be a rewarding venture that could lead to your eventual success, not just in your career but general contentment in life.

Filipino fashion designer Ken Batino surely knows how it is like to take such risks. 

From nursing grad to stylist

“I’m a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I had a lot of extracurricular activities, and one of them is being part of a dance group. I was usually assigned to do the styling and designing of our costumes,” Ken shared.

After graduating college, he saw an opportunity to use his experience as a costume stylist and designer to pursue a new career in the vibrant world of fashion. He shared that his decision to change career paths was motivated by his love for his family. He wanted to give them a comfortable life while also indulging himself with his true passion.

He initially decided to work as a fashion stylist. He got to create fashion looks for some A-lister celebrities like Kim Chui, Nadine Lustre, Yam Concepcion, Nathalie Hart, and Rufa Mae Quinto.

“Part of the job description of a stylist is to pull out clothes from clothing brands and designers. Lucky me, I gained some connections that I was able to borrow some branded and designer clothes for my clients. But to be honest, I also experienced to be ignored and not be allowed to pull out from some designers who I really looked up to. And that’s what initially inspired me to pursue a career as a fashion designer. I wanted my vision to turn into reality.”

In 2016, he decided to try out his skills in fashion designing when he was working for TV show host Willie Revillame for his hit TV gameshow Wowowin. He eventually became responsible for the planning, designing, and creation of every wardrobe piece for the show.

“That’s when I saw that being a fashion designer is truly a highly rewarding job. There is an amazing sense of accomplishment and joy seeing your final product on people.”

Launching his own fashion label

After gaining substantial experience in the industry, Ken decided to start his own fashion label. In 2018, Ken introduced his own line called MY FREN.

“My Fren is a term of endearment between me and a friend, who happens to be a beauty queen and a model. My vision was to treat our clients as friends, that’s why our tagline is ‘your FREN in style’,” he said.

A year later, Ken decided to expand his styling and design business. So he partnered with another talented young designer named Jevin Salaysay. Together, they brought My Fren to greater heights when they were commissioned to design and create the gown for Binibining Pilipinas Pageant candidate and Eastern Samar representative Gabrielle Basiano.

Designing for a beauty queen

The Binibining Pilipinas pageant is one of the most prestigious beauty competitions in the country, where Filipina beauty is truly celebrated in all of its stunning glory. The pageant is also a great ground for any aspiring fashion designers to showcase their brilliance.

For Ken Batino and Jevin Salaysay, designing for one of the Binibini candidates proved to be a golden opportunity of a lifetime.

The duo’s creation was donned by candidate and later on Binibining Pilipinas first runner-up Gabrielle Basiano. The cream-colored couture gown stunned the audience and the panel of judges with its unique details, but also particularly with the beauty queen’s dramatic unveiling of the gown’s pearl-encrusted hood. The couture proved to be a breathtaking masterpiece, as it secured the candidate the Best in Long Gown Award during the competition.

“To be perfectly honest, I never had so much expectations on how people would react on our gown when we were just creating it. But after it bagged the best in evening gown award and a lot of people were raving about it, it really felt surreal. I can’t believe that many people have appreciated it. So I’m really honored and humbled. This inspires me to even do better,” Batino shared.

The design duo named the award-winning gown “Perla”.

The conception of the gown began way back December of 2019, even before Gabrielle’s screening for the Binibining Pilipinas Pageant. They started crafting the dress in February of 2020, and it took them many painstaking weeks to complete. Every single part of the dress was made with intricate details and a lot of attention– from the thousands of pearls stitched onto the dress, to the hand-knitted hood. It also required imported Swarovski crystals to make the dress glitter. They also made a mock gown of their design that Gabrielle could rehearse with for the pageant.

“The reason why we added a hood on it was because as neophyte designers for Binibini, we thought it was important to do something that could make us stand out. We envisioned something new and different from the usual pageant gowns that we see on stage. We also took inspiration from this unusual circumstance we have wherein we all have to wear protective face masks. We are hoping that one day, just like how Gab unveiled the hood, we can also take off our face masks soon and live our normal lives again.”

Without a doubt, Ken Batino has proven to himself that taking the risks in following his passion is not so bad after all.

“Fashion has become a platform not just to showcase the talent and ingenuity of Filipino designers, but also to champion the shades and silhouettes of Filipino history, culture and tradition. I am proud I get to do that as a fashion designer,” he concluded.

For the latest updates about this up and coming designer, you may follow Ken Batino on Instagram @kenbatino.