Ramona Filip

The up and coming fashion designer Ramona Filip recently launched her haute couture collection in London at the start of London Fashion Week. Daughter of a Romanian senator, Ramona was born in 1977 in the small town of Visew, north of Romania. She remained in Romania until ‘98 when she met and fell in love with Cypriot businessman Christopher Tornarites, during her last year of business studies in Bucharest. She has now made Cyprus her second home, working from her atelier in Nicosia on top of her husband’s offices. In fact many say Ramona is now more popular than the first lady in Cyprus!

Ramona’s love for clothes started at an early age, as she remembers picking up exciting new fabrics at her local market and creating her own designs (much to the amazement of her friends). With a stunning figure and striking looks it was very hard for Ramona not to get noticed. People often admired her clothes and individual sense of style and usually asked her for the name of the designer she wore, which she found quite amusing. As the designer remembers, “I’ve always been designing my own evening clothes for special occasions because I wanted to look different”.

Bored with society life in Cyprus, Ramona decided to take her passion further and created her own eveningwear line called ‘Ramon Filip’. Ever since she made her debut on the fashion scene in Nicosia in the summer of 1998, with a dazzling collection named ‘The Dream’, Ramona has gained a near-celebrity status on the island. “The Dream was a trial for me and its success encouraged me to continue designing,” explains Ramona.

Ramon Filip is a one woman-show, as Ramona is the designer, creator, businesswoman and even the label’s muse. Her business background as well as her fashion sense helped her to deal with all the different aspects of her company; from accounts to imports and exports. Her dedication and love for her work is apparent not only in her total involvement but in her pride at having established herself as a serious designer in such a short time; albeit in a small Mediterranean island.

This year, Ramona decided to expand her market further into Europe by bringing her latest collection over to London for a private viewing at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The captivating collection entitled ‘The Tree’ was inspired by the many seasonal changes of a tree. Rich and sensual fabrics like chiffon, velvet and satin were married with fringes, ostrich feathers, corals and Swarovski crystals. Beautiful kaftans and flowing kimono style full length dresses in warm, earthy tones of green, brown and red also wowed the audience. The fashion show was a great success with members of the press and the fashion world in attendance, all pleasantly surprised to see such an attractive young designer who seemingly overshadowed her own top models.

Tell me about your background. I’m Romanian and very proud of my origin, lots of people think that I’m Cypriot so I just like to make that clear. I moved to Cyprus for love in 1998 and it has now become my second home.

At what point in your life did you decide you wanted to be a fashion designer? I’ve always been business oriented and I guess fashion is the more creative side of my character. I always loved clothes and I started out by making clothes for myself because I wanted to look different and special. When I moved to Cyprus, my social life became very busy and I started designing more and more often.

What inspired you to design? Everything around me inspires me. An idea can come from watching a movie, going to a museum or a walk in the park – like my latest collection, ‘The Tree’. I never studied design; it’s just something that came naturally to me. I remember as far back as high school, I designed my own graduation dress. But my business background helped me a lot when I started my own label.

Tell me more about your latest collection, ‘The Tree’. I thought of a tree as it goes through all the different stages of the year from spring through to summer, I looked at the colour changes, the leaves, the flowers. How it looks different in the morning sun and how it saddens in the evening; these changes inspired me to create my pieces.

Your specialty now is eveningwear, is there any reason you focus on this line of clothing? I started by doing eveningwear because I enjoy making it and also wearing it. I believe that a woman should look good during all the stages of a day, but when she goes out at night she should really look glamorous. I’m leaving the daytime to other designers and I’m taking care of the night.

What is your reaction to people saying that you are more beautiful than your own models? I like people to associate my clothes to my image. I actually represent my own clothes, that’s how it all started; I am the image of my own brand name.

What is the greatest pride that you get out of your work? When someone wears one of my dresses and it really looks good on them, this gives me the greatest pride.

How important is your career for you and why? My career is important to me as is my family life and my life with my husband, Chris.

Have most of your customers come to you through word of mouth? Yes, this is how it’s worked for me, I have never done any advertising. People come to my shows and from there on it’s word of mouth.

How would you describe the woman who wears your designs? She’s a woman with a strong character, not shy of being in the spotlight; she doesn’t mind being seen and admired by others. However, every woman can find her personality in my collections, as they involve many different styles.

Do Arab women fit this description? The dresses I make are quite glamorous and Arab women are known for their beauty and therefore have been quite inspirational to me.

What is your link to the Middle East? I have been influenced by Middle Eastern women and their style and glamour. At the moment I have a few private clients from the Middle East and I eventually hope to be able to show my collection in Lebanon, where my husband and I have recently bought an apartment.

How would you like to see your career/ business develop in the coming years? At the moment my biggest market is Cyprus because that’s where I’ve built up my client list over the past two years. So I’d like to expand and establish my brand internationally so my name is recognised worldwide. I would love to have showrooms in different fashion capitals of the world where people can see my designs. I do haute couture rather than made-to-measure dresses, so I need to have ateliers where I can have direct contact with my customers.

Would you ever consider joining an existing fashion house as an in-house designer? I started Ramon Filip on my own because I wanted to do something for myself. In the last few years I have been doing everything myself from choosing fabrics and patterns and overseeing the production. I’ve built it all myself so I wouldn’t want to leave it to join someone else’s brand.

 Do you value your personal ambitions over your professional ambitions or do you see them as inter-related? They are inter-related because I would love to succeed in my business but I also want to achieve harmony in my family life; you cannot really separate your private and professional life completely. Launching my name overseas is a time consuming job and requires me to spend a lot of time away from my husband. I will probably be trying to keep a balance between the two in the future.

Pick five words to describe yourself. Honest, devoted, perfectionist, demanding and loving

Who or what do you admire the most? People with a direction in life who are dedicated.

Who is your favourite designer? Definitely, Valentino.

What are your goals in life? To create and live in a harmony within myself and the people around me.

What is your motto? Make the best out of every single moment.