Rodolfo 'Puey' Quiñones Jr. is a Filipinofashion designer and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. He is the featured designer mentor in the 2002 award-winning documentary, The World's Most Fashionable Prison.
Early life and education
Quiñones was born on February 28, 1980, in Bobon, Northern Samar. He is a son of a policeman and a biology teacher. As a young child, he never imagined he would be a fashion designer. After three years of studying Political Science at the University of Eastern Philippines, he left the island of Samar to go to Manila. Quiñones' interest in fashion started when he was in high school in Bobon. He was inspired by his neighbor Dennis Lustico, who became a successful fashion designer in Manila. Quiñones wanted to become a designer but thought would be impossible for him to achieve. “I thought that in order to become a designer, you must come from a rich family and study fashion design abroad,” he said.
Manila
In 1999, Quiñones decided to move to Manila to work as an all-around assistant in Lustico's atelier. In the early hours, he would sew buttons and do the hems, but once everyone departed, he made sketches and left them on Lustico's desk. The established designer took notice, and under his mentorship, Quiñones learned the technical skills necessary for the job. Eventually, Lustico recommended him to Bergamo. At Bergamo, Quiñones designed embroideries for the Barong Tagalog and new cuts for suits in Piña material, innovating the traditional Filipino suit. His big break came in 2002 when he became a finalist at The Philippines Young Designers Competition for Paris. It was through this competition that he would meet his first client, Filipino politician, philanthropist, and socialite, TingTing Cojuangco. In 2005, Quiñones opened an atelier at The Bel Air in Makati City, Philippines. His clientele grew and he organized his first solo show, Swell, where he presented a 30-piece collection made of Koryo silk.
In 2018, Quiñones and partner, Paul Martineau, established Puey Quiñones, Los Angeles in the designer’s downtown atelier. They opened two showrooms in Bel-Air Village, Makati City: the first for Quiñones’ eponymous high fashion brand and the second for Cocomelody bridal wear. In 2020, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art purchased a Quiñones mini-dress with pouf sleeves for the permanent collection.
Works
Quiñones's designs have graced publications, television shows, movies, music videos, and red carpet events.
In June 2014, he presented a 15-piece collection for J Summer Fashion Show in New York City's One World Trade Center, entitled Fly, which reflects the spirit and design of the venue — ethereal, hopeful, powerful and stunning. Not one to miss out on the irony of the experience, Puey clearly identified with the symbolism of the World Trade Center: to rise after a fall, to fly and soar with a vision, renewed confidence, and newfound strength.
Quiñones was a guest designer for America's Next Top Model Cycle 21. He designed clothes using fabrics native to the Philippines for a runway challenge where the contestants had to walk on stilts.
Designed one of Katy Perry's costumes for her Dark Horse music video.
In October 2017, after eight years, he did a solo fashion show for MEGA Fashion Week SS18 held in Manila, Philippines. The collections were revealed in two different acts: first is an all-white bridal ensemble with a romantic silhouette, and the second is Quiñones's signature aesthetic of bold, vibrant colors, patterns, mischievous accents, and confounding textures.
