At first, there’s red. Just red, the first color distinguishable to the human eye. There’s no meaning to the shade yet. It just is, and it becomes a beloved hue perhaps because that’s the color of a baby’s earliest storybook. Then it’s followed by green, yellow, and blue, until everything is bright in a toddler’s world.
Long before a child learns that pink is supposedly for girls, or that dark colors are slimming, or that neutrals are sophisticated, they simply reach for what sings to them. They’ll choose to pair a sequined magenta hat with polka dot rain boots because the combination, in their internal logic, is perfectly correct. It’s a taste unclouded by everything else. All that matters is that it delights them.
It seems that renowned fashion designer Rajo Laurel has also been exploring this thought since his latest offering for his eponymous label, RAJO, moves headfirst into this untamed space. His S/S26 collection “Child’s Play” is a meditation on the way color first meets human consciousness, the way memory holds onto those shades, and the way imagination never really leaves if one knows where to look for it.
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Childlike Wonder
Laurel was inspired by Nina Tolstrup’s playful yet precise Bethnal Green Mews House. Translating that architectural philosophy into fashion, he builds his wardrobe around a thoughtful interplay of tones. Soft neutrals and pastels act as grounding elements. Then come the surprises: flashes of electric blue, bursts of citrus, and saturated primaries.
“What I primarily did was move with genuine, joyful intention,” Laurel shares. “We designed in a place of happiness. Does this make us happy? Will this bring a smile to someone’s face when they look at it and try it on? Is it flattering? Is it fresh? Is it interesting? Does (it) conjure desire?”
Joy is the guiding principle, essentially; Laurel and his team began with a mindset of play that fueled everything that followed. “It was an exciting process because it reminded (us) what mattered most. We tried to find happiness in our work, and we all hope that this can be tangibly felt by our beloved clients,” he adds.
Another fascinating aspect of “Child’s Play” is how it treats the relationship between designer and wearer. Much like a cheeky kid who thinks outside the box, there’s much to discover about Laurel’s clothes, as he finds deep satisfaction in watching how his patrons make his work their own.
“I always love being tagged on social media (when) our clients show us how they wear what we created in their own personal vision,” he explains. “I really enjoy that, as it often shows me more than what I actually thought. Our work has always been about self-expression, and we have always offered that safe space to experiment and express (oneself). That, for me, is definitely rewarding. It’s not really a secret, but when you add (a) sense of play to any endeavor, the results are often quite surprising.”
To better understand where this fascination with play first took root, one only needs to look at the designer’s own childhood. By now, Laurel is many great things, yet he remains honest and warm about his past mischief. “I would always secretly play with my sister’s Barbie dolls,” he laughs. “They were my very first muses. I would spend so many hours making clothes for (the) dolls and giving them makeovers. Most of the time, my sister would wake up in tears because (the) dolls would be given a (look) that was more punk than princess.”
More than just a seasonal offering, “Child’s Play” is an introspective exercise where everyone is invited to return to youthful openness. And in doing so, Rajo Laurel reframes his creations as a medium for reflection and rediscovery.
Explore Rajo Laurel’s SS26 collection, launching April 11, 2026, at The RAJO Store—located in Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, and SM Aura Premier—and online at rajolaurel.com on April 14.
Photos: RAJO LAUREL
Photographed by COLIN DANCEL
Frequently Asked Questions
“Child’s Play” is Rajo Laurel’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection for his eponymous label RAJO, exploring how color first meets human consciousness in early childhood. The collection is built around soft neutrals and pastels as grounding elements, punctuated by electric blue, citrus bursts, and saturated primaries — designed with joyful intention as its guiding principle.
Laurel drew inspiration from architect Nina Tolstrup’s playful yet precise Bethnal Green Mews House, translating its interplay of tones into fashion. His own childhood also informed the collection — he recalls secretly dressing his sister’s Barbie dolls for hours, giving them looks that were, in his words, more punk than princess, an early expression of the creative play the collection revisits.
The RAJO S/S26 collection is anchored in soft neutrals and pastels that function as grounding elements, with deliberate flashes of electric blue, citrus, and saturated primaries introduced as points of surprise. The palette is designed to reflect the instinctive, unconditioned way children first respond to color — before rules around gender, formality, or trend take hold.
The RAJO S/S26 “Child’s Play” collection launched on April 11, 2026, at The RAJO Store locations in Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, and SM Aura Premier. It became available online at rajolaurel.com on April 14, 2026.
Laurel describes the collection as an open space for self-expression, designed to be interpreted and worn on each client’s own terms. He says he finds deep satisfaction watching patrons make his work their own — often discovering more in the pieces than he originally intended — and considers that creative exchange between designer and wearer a defining part of the RAJO brand’s identity.
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