MANILA, Philippines — Interior designer Roberto Antonio Valera, the grandson of National Artist for Fashion Design Ramon Valera, wanted to continue his grandfather’s legacy through cabinet making.
In an interview with the media recently, including Philstar.com, Valera said that he got his attention to detail from his late grandfather.
“‘Yung lolo ko, siya mismo ang nagtatabas ng tela. Siya lahat. Siya ang magsisimula. Ganu’n din sa akin sa interior design. From the start, ako ang magde-design, ako ang magdro-drawing, ako ang sa hardware. Sa assembly and installation, andu’n din ako,” he said.
“One of the things that really stands out in his design is ‘yung intricacy of his design. Siya naman, he does that in the cabinet design when it comes to specification. There are clients na metikuloso,” Roberto’s wife Olive added.
Valera said that he found his desire for interior decoration at a very young age.
“Nu’ng bata ako, ako ang nagre-rearrange ng furniture. Ako lang ‘yung matiyagang nag-aayos ng furniture. Kasama ang mommy ko na bumili ng sofa. Sabi ko sa parents ko, I want to take interior design. Sabi ng dad ko, ‘Naku, Onie, mahirap ‘yan, puyatan ‘yan.’ So parang na-discourage ako,” he said.
“I took up Industrial Engineering. After two years, hindi ko siya gusto. Nag-shift ako. Du’n ko na-mix ang mathematics at design. After graduating Interior Design, I went to the US, where I took my masters degree,” he added.
Valera founded his Vast Solutions company in 2020.
“During the pandemic, naisip ko, mag-develop kaya ako ng sariling library? October ‘yun ng 2020, I started developing the library. Biglang nag-text ‘yung mom ko. She said, ‘Onie, kailangan ko ng cabinet sa kitchen kasi tatanggalin ko ‘yung lumang stove. May kilala ka ba?’ Sabi ko, ‘Ma, ako na lang.’ Ayun. Ako ang nag-design. Nu’ng ginawa namin, kaya naman pala so ayun na ‘yung friends ko nag-start na magtanong sa akin,” he said.
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