Carla Gem Buyo

Metro Exclusive: RANDOLF’s 'The Waiting Room' Finds Beauty in the Space Between Endings and Beginnings

Article (news)

<p>Some stories begin in celebration. Others begin in the space between hello and goodbye. Returning to <strong>MNL Fashion Week</strong>, <strong>RJ Santos</strong> of <strong>Randolf</strong> steps into a very different kind of space with <em>The Waiting Room</em>. The collection began with a deeply personal moment: his grandfather passed away just four days before his niece was born, leaving him thinking about that strange space between an ending and a beginning.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17885696984764.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17885697344548.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>RELATED</strong>: <a href="https://metro.style/fashion/2026/9/4/nicolo-mnl-fashion-week-2026-metro-exclusive-backstage-0600" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metro Exclusive: Nicol&ograve; Explores the Emotional Cycle of Ambition in &lsquo;Flow State&rsquo;</a></p><p>He imagines that feeling as a waiting room somewhere between reality and imagination, where memories, emotions, and possibilities overlap. Yet even with its heavier point of departure, <em>The Waiting Room</em> still carries the playfulness and visual language that have become part of Randolf&#39;s world. From playful embroidery and storybook imagery to layers of tulle and sequin integrated into denim and pi&ntilde;a fabrics.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178856980337416.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178856983029814.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>RELATED</strong>: <a href="https://metro.style/fashion/2026/9/4/yong-studio-mnl-fashion-week-2026-metro-exclusive-backstage-0630" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metro Exclusive: Yong Studio Looks to Nature&mdash;and What Happens When We Take It for Granted</a></p><p>That balance has always been there. What started with printed totes and tees eventually grew into embroidery, tailoring, custom pieces, and his own take on the <em>barong</em>, which he treated not as something untouchable, but as another canvas for storytelling. His influences remain just as personal: pop art, tattoos, music, and the culture around him all find their way into the clothes.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178856985455513.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178856988261515.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">&nbsp;Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>RELATED</strong>: <a href="https://metro.style/fashion/2026/9/4/yana-kalaw-lilah-roche-kill-joy-studios-jag-mnl-fashion-week-2026-metro-exclusive-backstage-0700" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metro Exclusive: Three Promising Designers Reimagine Queer Femininity, Filipino Cinema, and the Streets of Manila</a></p><p>There is also a recurring fascination that keeps showing up in his work: snakes shedding their skin. For Randolf, the skin-shed pieces have become a familiar motif, one that feels especially fitting for a collection concerned with transition and change.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17885698958369.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">Backstage at MNL Fashion Week: Randolf</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17885699063763.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">RJ Santos of Randolf at MNL Fashion Week</span></span></span></div><p>&ldquo;I see myself as someone who tells stories with fashion as my medium,&rdquo; he says. And perhaps that is what <em>The Waiting Room</em> does best: takes something deeply personal and gives it a place to exist through clothes, without losing the personality that makes Randolf, Randolf.</p><div><br></div><div><em>Photographed by Pat Buenaobra</em></div><div><em>Creative Directed by Carla Buyo</em></div><div><em>Assisted by Sophia Ancheta and Zoe Althea Agnes</em></div><div><em>Written by Zoe Althea Agnes</em></div><div><em><br></em></div><div><em>Read more MNL Fashion Week stories on Metro.Style</em></div>

<p><i>Returning to MNL Fashion Week, the designer transforms a deeply personal experience of loss and new life into a poignant collection.</i></p>

Returning to MNL Fashion Week, the designer transforms a deeply personal experience of loss and new life into a poignant collection.

#MetroStyleWatch: Randolf Translates Personal Grief Into Masterful Texture, Embroidery, and Form

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#MetroStyleWatch: Randolf Translates Personal Grief Into Masterful Texture, Embroidery, and Form

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Published September 05, 2026 11:00 AM PHT

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Updated September 05, 2026 11:37 AM PHT

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