Rafe snags CFDA date

Rafe Totengco, the creative head behind the New York-based accessories and footwear company has been asked by Target—which earlier this year tapped him to design a line of handbags for its stores—to be a speaker during Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Target was looking to showcase a person of Asian descent that had made an impact in the fashion industry and thought Totengco would be an ideal person because of its mainline collection and recent collaboration with cheap-chic giant. Totengco will travel to Target headquarters on May 15 to speak about his history in the fashion world, growing up in the Philippines, coming to the U.S. and starting and growing his collection, as well as his design partnership with Target.
But the exposure doesn’t stop there. Totengco is also the recipient of the National Asian Entrepreneur of the Year, which will be handed out by Asia Enterprise Magazine on May 25 in Los Angeles. The Asian Entrepreneur of the Year Awards was established in 1994 as the only competitive awards program in the U.S. that recognizes exemplary Asian Pacific American entrepreneurs. Additionally, the affable accessories guru has confirmed Japanese supermodel Anne Watanabe as his date to this year’s CFDA Fashion Awards. For the occasion, he has created a pair of silver snake platforms and a matching silver snake clutch for her to wear with her Peter Som dress.