San Diego ’ s own talented fashion designer Kenneth Barlis has been unstoppable these days working on his own personal brand since winning last year ’ s 2012 San Diego Fashion Week . With less than three years of fashion school under his belt , he is already rubbing shoulders with fashion elites and established an impressive celebrity clientele .
This San Diego native is proud to live in his city and refuses to join the emerging designers running off to Los Angeles . He is determined to help make San Diego a fashion mecca in its own right .
As I started to interview this humble and fashionable Designer he described his previous successes , his current projects and a look at what the future holds in store . It was nice to see Kenneth again since last year ’ s San Diego Fashion Week but it seems Kenneth has been on an unstoppable whirlwind ever since then .
Kenneth was born and raised in Pagadian City , Philippines and has always had a passion for the fashion world from a very young age . While living in the Philippines he joined the modeling world at 14 years old . Standing at 5 ” 10 , he was taller than most of his average Asian male friends . He moved to San Diego , California at the tender age of 16 where he continued modeling until the age of 21 , when he decided he was getting older and modeling was just not the right path for him . With no prior experience in the fashion world he decided to try his hand at styling and was asked by his photographer friends and family to create styling for them . Kenneth then entered a Fashionista Challenge in 2010 for Project Ethos , which involved seven designers competing for the top prize where he won the competition .
The path to his fashion career was not a straight forward one . Kenneth had his sights set on entering medical school and was researching several campuses in San Diego . Upon touring the UCSD campus he made the decision that would forever change his course and lead him to what his passion has always been , fashion . “ When you are looking at something you want to do and even though it looks so beautiful but you don ’ t feel connected to it . That ’ s what I felt like while researching medical school . But when I went to FIDM in 2010 that is where I felt I belonged , in that environment , that atmosphere , everything about the school is what led me to fashion design ”. Kenneth enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise San Diego , in the summer of 2010 and is currently finishing up his studies at the Los Angeles Campus .
Kenneth was not the only one who felt he belonged in a fashion career however ; his mother was a huge supporter of his talents . “ When my mom saw my designs at the time , she saw me doing that for the long term . She told me that I should get the proper training for it . That is why we started looking into fashion schools and the first thing I saw was FIDM . When I went to visit the school I fell in love with it and that is why I chose to attend FIDM ”.
Kenneth left styling because he felt he wanted to explore fashion design , “ I felt that my creativity speaks louder than my styling capabilities so that is when I said , you know what , I am going to try designing . It is amazing and I love the journey so far ”.
Kenneth was one of many competing for San Diego Fashion Week last fall in 2012 where he was declared the winner of San Diego Fashion Week . When asked if the event opened doors for him he let me know it got him recognition in his hometown . “ Locally yes , people started to notice me but before then my market was mainly Los Angeles , celebrity clients , magazines and international ”. Kenneth already seems like a veteran designer for being only in fashion school less than 3 years . His most recent work since San Diego Fashion Week was getting a personal call from recording artist Rhianna herself for an offer to do a reality show for designers . The show is called “ Styles to Rock ” from the Style Network produced by Rhianna . “ For the show they called me personally , I did not apply . It is just really amazing beyond our dreams there are actually people out there that started to follow us and know our brand and what we do and there is nothing like getting known for your craft ”.
So exactly what is the Rhianna reality show according to Kenneth ? “ It is kind of like a project runway for designers . Every week you will dress up celebrities . She wants me to be part of it because I have
14 | The LA Fashion magazine