Filipino Immigrant Finds Grand Rapids as Best Home for His Atelier

Romel “RC” Caylan is an internationally celebrated fashion designer who has dressed more than 100 celebrities and has a showroom in Beverly Hills. Yet he proudly runs his business out of Grand Rapids, at a studio in the Breton Village Shopping Center alongside Lululemon, Anthropologie, and other big-name retailers. “I’m always asked ‘Why Grand Rapids?’ I have the opportunity to go to New York or LA to build my brand,” he says. “But I feel I belong here. I love Grand Rapids. If America is the land of dreams, Grand Rapids is the city of opportunity.” 

Caylan was born in Iligan City and raised in Batangas City, both in the Philippines. He studied accounting, became licensed in cosmetology, and was working in a salon on an international cruise ship when he met his future husband, a passenger originally from Detroit. “I hadn’t planned to come to America,” he says. “But I am proud to say it was meant to be.”  

In 2012, Caylan moved to Grand Rapids. Three years later, he graduated from Grand Rapids Community College with an associate degree in fashion design and merchandising. As a boy, he had loved spending time in his grandmother’s sewing room, marveling at how simple tools turned lines on paper into flowing gowns.   

Today, Caylan’s business specializes in custom, high-end bridal, evening, and prom dresses. Caylan has participated in Paris and Milan fashion weeks and won numerous awards, including regional “Fashion Designer of the Year,” from Fashion Group International, in 2023. He also hosts an annual charity show in Grand Rapids, where this year’s closing ceremony is at ArtPrize, an international art competition and cultural event.  

Caylan says that having his business based in a small city benefits his career by limiting competition. He adds that the growth of Grand Rapids and its support of small businesses make the city an ideal place, where small immigrant-led enterprises like his can thrive. “The development downtown gives opportunities for anyone to have any job they want,” he says. “Grand Rapids may look small, but we’re building big things.”