After a succesful career as one of Manila’s Gothic and Lolita pioneers, Catherine of One Free Kiss is moving on to bigger and better things.

She is currently in fashion school refining her talent and learning the techniques needed in the clothing trade, as well as putting up aa cosplay commission shop Layers HQ.

Cat took a couple of minutes off her busy schedule to answer a few questions from magnetic-rose.net

What was the inspiration for Layers HQ? How did all of this get started?

This would be a difficult and long story to tell but it all started with Gothic and Lolita and visual kei I guess. I’ve always been a fan of visual kei – its music and the visual part of their performance long before I got hooked with cosplay (or making costumes for that matter). Somehow I was able to get in Ongaku Society and was appointed as a mod.

We were cutting event tickets in a friend’s house one day and a senior in the org brought a Gothic and Lolita magazine with her. I borrowed it and I was amazed with the contents. I thought back then that hey, I’m a bum and since those accessories in the magazine looks easy to make, why don’t I make some and sell it? I have some dressmaking knowledge after all, it’s time I stop being a bum.

No one was selling gothic and lolita inspired items aside from me and h_matsumoto back then so I decided to open one. I called it “onefreekiss” and its purpose is to provide items inspired by the popular subculture in Japan. At first it was half business, half pleasure for me. But I fell in love with the craft and the subculture more as I spent time with it. I loved it so much that I decided to seek formal education in making clothes. Enrolling in a fashion school turned out to be a perfect idea , because as years passed by my clients started asking for more difficult clothes.

I started receiving requests for costumes, too. Then the demand for costumes for cosplay started to overcome the demand for frilly girly clothes. I decided to leave the lolita scene and concentrate more on cosplay. Ever since Onefreekiss started several other similar shops have opened. Philippines is no longer a country with zero gothic lolita shops around. My shop’s purpose has been fulfilled. I thought it’s time to move to another level so I opened Layers Headquarters, an atelier that specializes in detailed costumes for cosplayers.

For you, what is the best thing about the what you do?

The best thing about my job is I can geek out as much as I want and it always brings out good results. It mashes my passions: Manga/anime/games and sewing. I feel very fulfilled when I finish a costume and it fits the commissioner well. It feels like I’m a fairy granting wishes, or a genie making things appear out of nowhere. Also, pattern making for costumes is a good brain exercise. Because most costume designs are out of this world drafting patterns for it (what dressmakers use as a basis for the cloth’s form) is almost a challenge every single time. It was a great advantage for me when I entered fashion school since I had experience with weird dress silhouettes.

Which design or commission was your favorite? What were your most unusual requests?

My favorite would be the Full Metal Alchemist costumes I made for 7 people. I’m a fan of the FMA manga, and doing the costumes of Alex Armstrong, Roy Mustang and his crew gave me so much happiness. It didn’t feel like I was working at all, hahaha.

What is the hardest part about the business? Have you dealt with any problems?

I can’t think of a major problem in this business but I think dealing with some unreasonable cosplayers could be a hassle. Some people take this craft for granted. I’ve encountered a lot of cosplayers who demand accuracy, quality and speed but are not willing to pay the equivalent monetary amount for it. It could be really annoying.

What advice would you give to other anime-inspired designers who want to strike out on their own?

If you aim to be a costume maker, invest. Invest in quality tools and start off with simple products. Do not rush yourself, just build a good portfolio slowly, surely and don’t do anything you don’t wanna do at all.

For aspiring fashion designers, I don’t know if I’m qualified to say this already since I haven’t graduated from fashion school yet but fashion design is not as razzly, dazzly sparkly as you think. If you aren’t ready to get your hands dirty with work (as in manual labor), don’t even think about it. Fashion design is not all about drawing stuff only. Educate yourself, learn about pattern making since it’s the base of your craft.

And keep that vision clear in your head always. Without your goal it’ll be easy to get influenced and lost in the world of fashion. You don’t wanna be just another designer in the market. To be irreplaceable, you have to be different — that was what Coco Chanel once said.

For quality cosplay commissions, visit Cat’s site at http://layersheadquarters.multiply.com.