This is the beginning of a new year, a fresh start and a chance to make some major changes — like the one Ruben Luna made when he decided to ditch his job as a financial consultant and try something else.
That journey brought him here to Philadelphia and his new boutique store, Workshop Underground, 1544 South St. Along the way, Luna built up quite a résumé: his own successful design business, corporate merchandising for menswear, product development at the May Company, designing watches and jewelry for Movado Luxury Group and heading the products department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he worked with fashion icon Anna Wintour.
PGN: So what happened?
RL: [Laughs] Well, I went to Columbia and was in the executive MBA program on a finance/Wall Street track, which I was sort of programmed to do. Right out of college, I was working in finance for [professional-services company] KPMG and I was billing a lot of hours. At first it was fun —meals on expense accounts and a driver — but I was working 100 hours a week. One week, my friend was having a birthday party and I was missing it because I was working so many hours. It was a Friday, and as I was staring at our annual report, I started thinking, You know, the green color they chose for the cover is too yellow, and the fonts are all wrong, they should be smaller … And it dawned on me, what was I doing in finance? Not long after, I was riding the subway and saw an ad that advertised Photoshop and Illustrator lessons for $49. Computer programs now are much more user-friendly, but back then they weren’t as refined. I had a lot of time accrued so I was able to take some time off for the class and to start doing some freelance design work. Fortunately, there was a pretty big demand for freelance designers in New York and I got to work with some design houses, which culminated in having some really large accounts where we did not only the design, but the product development and production.
PGN: When you say we, whom do you mean?
RL: One of my good friends was working at Tommy Hilfiger and got laid off. He and I had a company called Varsity for a few years until I decided that I needed to get some corporate-design experience. I got a call from a recruiter to do menswear design at Home Shopping Network in St. Louis and decided to give it a go. But it was so structured and compartmentalized; one person would do nothing but pick the color, another would pick the buttons, someone else would pick the print and as a designer I had to try to make it all fit. [Laughs] It was absurd. I’d signed a contract and they arranged for my relocation and paid me enough to buy my first home, but I wasn’t happy. Thankfully, I got a call from Movado, the watch company. I didn’t even remember applying with them but they offered me a position designing watches and jewelry for them. That was more of what I was hoping corporate design would be: There was structure, but it allowed for a lot of creativity and flexibility. I broke my contract and had to pay back the relocation fees, but honestly it was worth every penny.
PGN: What does it feel like knowing that, as we speak, there’s probably someone walking around wearing something you helped design?
RL: It is the most rewarding thing ever! Whenever I see someone wearing something I designed, I get so giggly. It’s such a compliment. When my friend and I had the company Varsity, one of our clients was Urban Outfitters and we designed a T-shirt line called Lit, which was an homage to my nickname as a kid. My dad’s name is also Ruben and they would call him Big Ben and I was Little Ben, which got truncated to Lit. The T-shirts did pretty well and we got a lot of calls from film companies and advertising firms asking us if they could use the shirts. So one of our shirts was in a Pepsi or Coke commercial and when they put out that movie with the first “American Idol” winners, Justin and Kelly, Justin wore one of our shirts in the film.
PGN: Cool!
RL: It was. [Laughs] I mean, it’s nothing compared to a celebrated artist, but for someone who never dreamed that I’d ever create anything other than a financial statement, it was pretty incredible. It’s nice to know there’s room for creativity and a way to monetize it.
PGN: I understand that you worked for Anna Wintour, who is supposedly the person that “The Devil Wears Prada” was based on.
RL: Yes, I was doing product design and merchandising for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was a highlight of my career. I learned so much there. I especially learned how to tell a story through design and to create cohesive collections that are authentic, which is something I’m bringing to Workshop Underground. One aspect of the job was coordinating the Costume Institute exhibitions, which is where I interacted with Ms. Wintour; yes, she’s demanding, but her taste level is outstanding. Our most difficult problem was creating products that would be at a reasonable price point for museum-goers and that she would approve of. Thankfully, she’s always approved our collection.
PGN: Tell me a little about Big Ben and your family.
RL: My parents emigrated from the Philippines and I was born in Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. My father was a general surgeon and there was a big demand for doctors back then. From there, we moved to Virginia; there was a program to recruit doctors to rural areas. It was a little surreal because there was a small group of about 25 Filipino doctor families. We always used to say it would have made a fun documentary or “based on a true story” movie. Culturally it was a little hard; it was at a time when I can’t remember seeing Asian people on TV other than stereotyped characters like the Ancient Chinese Secret guy from the Calgon ads. Even with the other families, I definitely knew I was different, a special subset. At 13, I went to boarding school in Connecticut. I always felt like I had a privileged life, but it was nothing compared to the other kids in prep school. And I definitely didn’t fit in there. I was a first-generation, Filipino-American who liked boys. I spent a lot of time playing piano and acting in plays.
PGN: Any siblings?
RL: Yes, I have a younger sister who’s given me two gorgeous nieces, Chloe, 6, and Maya, 2. They were here for Thanksgiving and Chloe is going to be my best customer.
PGN: What was you favorite childhood toy?
RL: It was a Lone Ranger horse. My parents really wanted to assimilate to American culture and were quick to embrace every culture, tradition and holiday. I distinctly remember Mom dressing me up as a cowboy at about 2 and I had a big plastic horse that you could ride on, Silver. We have a ton of pictures of it.
PGN: Any notable ancestors?
RL: This is funny. My last name is Luna and there’s a famous war hero named Juan Luna who is on the back of the 25-cent coin in the Philippines. In third grade when I had show and tell, my mother said, “You should bring this coin. It’s your great-great-great grandfather.” I was like, Awesome, and took it to school and I was a hit. Years later when I was in college we were talking about family history and my mom said, “Oh yeah, your last name’s not really Luna.” I was like, What are you talking about? and she said, “Yeah, your grandfather changed it a while ago” and I was like, Excuse me? What about the war hero? and she said, “Eh, I was just kidding.”
PGN: She sounds like a riot. When did you realize that you might be in another special subset, of the LGBT kind?
RL: One of my favorite aunts, a Catholic-school teacher, lived in Baltimore and we’d spend a few weeks each summer with her. Oh God, my mother’s going to kill me, but I don’t care, it’s a good story. So while I was staying with her when I was in first or second grade, one of the neighbor boys, a cute little red-headed kid, came over. She had to run to the store and as soon as she left, I told him, “Let’s play mommy and daddy.” He asked me how you played and I said, “We take all our clothes off and get under the covers!” So we did. We weren’t doing anything, I think I just asked him how his day was, but as soon as I heard my aunt come back in the house, I literally ran into the closet and hid. Poor Patrick was there in the bed as his teacher came in and asked, “OK, where’s Little Ben?” To which he pointed and replied, “He’s in the closet!” That was when I first realized, Hmmm, there’s something going on here.
PGN: When did you officially come out of that closet?
RL: Let’s see, my parents knew in high school. I was in community theater and had a number of guy friends that came around. I later got married; we were one of the first couples in line the first day it was legal in New York — not because we wanted to make a statement, we just knew the line was going to be long and we wanted to get it over with! We had a small ceremony in a beautiful church in Hoboken because I knew my parents would want a religious component. It was really sweet and romantic but in the end didn’t last, which was one of the reasons I decided to open up the shop. We separated last April and since I didn’t have to worry about my spouse, I could take more risks. I’d always wanted to have my own space, a place where I could curate the product assortment that I wanted and have it reflect my style and my philosophy of design. I really believe that price is relative and everyone should have access to things that are beautiful. One of the things that influenced me was when Target started doing designer collaborations. Some people thought that the designers were denigrating their brand, but they’re not, it’s about people having access. So I wanted a place where people could feel like they’re experiencing something new but where anyone coming in here can walk away with something.
PGN: It’s a great little space.
RL: Yes and with room to grow; there’s a garden in back and space downstairs that we’re going to develop. I’m thinking of making a man cage, with all men’s accessories or maybe a space where we do small events, like jewelry-making classes. We recently had one of the Bob and Barbara’s drag performers come in and greet people and then lead them down to the show. We want to do things to create synergy with other businesses in the neighborhood.
PGN: Random questions. A favorite Christmas present?
RL: My mother was a great cook and one year she hand-typed a little book of all of the family recipes and put it in my Christmas stocking. I still tell her that it’s my most cherished item.
PGN: If you could choose an object in your store to come back as, what would it be?
RL: There’s a painting here by an Argentinian artist that’s based on the big bad wolf character. I bought it because it reminded me of Basquiat [smiles] but happier. It’s a positive spin on it with a cute wolf.
PGN: Last time you went ice skating?
RL: Rockefeller Center about four years ago. Though I plan to go soon to one of the rinks here.
PGN: And what’s in store for the store?
RL: I’m going to be launching my own jewelry line. The women’s line is called LUNA and the men’s line will be called Ben. Men are becoming more fashion-forward and men’s jewelry is beginning to expand. As I mentioned, we’re looking to do a lot of events and tie in to the neighborhood as well as various nonprofits.
PGN: How do you find out the latest trends?
RL: Back in the day you’d have to fly to Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo to figure out what was happening, but nowadays you can find all the information online. There are trend services for retailers that tell you what the motifs are, what colors are trending. [Laughs] It’s not as much fun! That’s one of the reasons I like working with local artisans. They’re not driven by trends, they’re inspired by other things. You can incorporate global trends, but not be dependent on them.
PGN: It’s a beautiful environment that you’ve created here, part boutique and part art gallery.
RL: Thank you. The concept of the store is high and low, so we have everything from gourmet treats and jewelry starting at $12 to artwork by Julian Schnabel that’s $8,000. There are a lot of handmade items as well as vintage pieces. Since we use a lot of local artisans, if people want bespoke items, we can do that too. My favorite line is from a company called Hand in Hand. They make fair trade, eco-friendly bath and body products. Each of their collections benefits a different organization and they’re made here in Philadelphia. It’s a beautiful thing.
Note from Suzi: I don’t have enough room to describe all the things in the store that Ben pointed out to me, or adequately describe his passion for what he’s doing. I will give him kudos for being the best host. When I arrived for our interview, he had a beautiful spread with gourmet sandwiches, hand-cut potato chips and champagne chilling, which he served out of cute little round glasses lined in silver. It was a treat and inspired me to up my game at home when entertaining visitors. Bravo, Little Ben.
For more information about Workshop Underground, visit www.facebook.com/workshopunderground/.
To suggest a community member for Family Portrait, email [email protected].