REVIEW: Johanna Chan (Designer)

Address:

17 Catmon St. Talayan Village, Quezon City

Links:

http://johtchan.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/johannachan.weddings

 Rating:  Horrific.

 Recommendation:  Highly Not Recommended.

 Comments:

• Unprofessional
• Offensive and rude
• Uncreative

Specifics:

The title is misleading. She does not qualify as a designer. She’s more of a dressmaker with a degree in fashion design. Her original works were childish and unimpressive. The dresses, that she made for my sister, were copies of dresses we saw online, NOT her original designs.

My sister saw her at one of the bridal fairs she went to in her early months of wedding planning. She checked Johanna Chan’s online portfolio, loved one of the ball gowns she made for another bride. Incidentally, that gown was also a rip-off from a foreign magazine her client had.

My sister contacted her and met at her residence in Quezon City instead of her office in Makati as it was more convenient for everyone. I came with my sister and her groom on their first meeting for a quotation for the design my sister wanted. She wore a spaghetti-strap top with her bra straps out, and pajama bottoms (that’s the type of outfit she wore every time we met her). After a little haggling, they agreed at a price and terms of payment. They paid her a little sum on the spot to “reserve,” then down payment upon fitting, and when the rest of the dresses are ready. It was specifically agreed upon that there will be a small balance to be paid on the day of the event to guarantee the “designer’s” attendance to assist the bride. (Background: the designer of my other sister’s wedding gown didn’t show during her prep. He only sent his assistant even though he promised to come.)

Before making sketches, designers would ask their clients what basic designs they prefer for dresses. My mom’s preferences were simple: she wanted sleeves and for her undergarments not to show. She specifically told Johanna Chan that she did not want a bolero.  She made a design and took my mom’s measurements but not without offensive comments. A little background, my mom had a recent surgery for breast cancer at that time, which my sister told Johanna Chan about before my mom went to meet her. Johanna Chan replied that she already had a client with the same circumstances and said that she already knew what to do. While this so-called designer took my mom’s bust measurements, she tried to feel around and said over and over, “wala talaga. Wala talaga e” [There’s nothing. There’s really nothing].  My mom shared how horrible the ordeal was for her. Imagine going through that. My sister tried to comfort and to calm my mom down, and requested that everyone just let Johanna Chan off on her tactless comments.

Johanna Chan only wanted to do one fitting for every dress but she made my mom come back to her house because they “lost her measurements.” That and she wanted to redo the design of the dress. My mom did not object though their meeting really tried her patience. On my mom’s fitting of
Johanna Chan’s second “design,” which she didn’t like, she politely asked if the first design was already scrapped in case she preferred that one. To that Johanna Chan’s response was, “pangit ‘yun. Kung yun ang gagawin ko, wag na lang” [that was ugly. If that’s what I would have to do, then never mind]. Considering my mom is a client and an elder, you would think she would have been more mindful of her words.

The bridesmaids’ fittings were also met with “ang laki ng tinaba mo” [you gained a lot of weight], and “dapat mag-diet ka” [you should go on a diet]. One of the bridesmaids’ mothers threw a fit at Johanna Chan’s snide remarks. Come to think of it, Johanna Chan did not get along with any of the mothers.

During my sister’s wedding gown fitting, she asked Johanna Chan if they could leave a sum of P5,000 as balance to be paid when she comes to the hotel to  assist with the dress, to which she agreed. Two weeks before the wedding, my sister got a call from Johanna Chan’s number.

When she answered, it was not Johanna Chan on the other line; it was her mother! She was scolding my sister for not paying the whole sum and not trusting her daughter, and threatened to hold the dresses if my sister did not give in to their demands. Johanna Chan’s mother accused my sister of being unprofessional for haggling with the prices when my sister has never even met this woman who was yelling at her on the phone. They were on the phone for about an hour and my sister was bawling her eyes out. She was so stressed and worried that she wouldn’t have anything to wear to her own wedding! They had no choice and caved in. 

The gowns got picked up and this is what Johanna Chan gave my mom – ugly, unflattering, and uncreative. I wonder why CSB let her graduate with a degree in fashion. The “design” emphasized the wrong 

areas. The childish flower broach was the only embellishment on the dress. Add the fact that she even did the one thing my mom said she didn’t want – a bolero. It would have been embarrassing for my mom to be seen wearing that mess of a dress at her daughter’s wedding. She hated it so much that she immediately had another designer salvage the cloth and make it less of a disaster.

When the bridesmaids’ dresses were picked up, they shared only one crappy hanger that could not support the three dresses. The dresses were nice but there were flaws and problems. Execution was poor. The hemline was sewed with what I could only describe as basting stitches. Those are the stitches with large gaps between them. My heels kept shooting in the gaps, which kept me almost tripping. My younger sister and fellow bridesmaid had the same problem. The flap design on the chest kept drooping. One of the bones in my dress kept poking my chest and it was itchy.

My sister’s bridal gown was beautiful. It was a huge ball gown. They delivered the petticoat in a large transparent plastic bag and the gown was in a crumbly, old brown box. My sister borrowed the mannequin to display the dress the day before the wedding but Johanna Chan refused, said she would just bring it on the wedding day and reasoned that it was expensive and that my sister might not return it. How rude! Luckily, the hotel had a dress form which they lent.

On the wedding day, my sister gave me the task of dealing with Johanna Chan. The plan was to only let her assistant come up to the room and steam the dress, and never let Johanna Chan come anywhere near my sister. She showed up and I told her that only her assistant is allowed to come with us to steam the dress. She refused and arrogantly said, “hindi puwede. Ayaw ko. Ako ang amo niya e” [no. I don’t want that. I’m her boss].

So I blatantly told her, “ayaw ka naming paakyatin dahil masisira ang araw ng ditsi ko. Gusto mo bay un?”  [we don’t want you to come up because it’ll ruin my sister’s day. Is that what you want?] All she could say was“basta,” which basically translates to I don’t care. She didn’t steam the dress. She 

left with her maid assistant, but not without this photo during conversation. 

P.S. She even had the nerve to post how complicated her clients are.