Rain Batingana still remembers being a girl in Davao City, sneaking glances at “Project Runway” reruns and imagining, just for a moment, that she was the one walking the runway instead of watching it from her couch.
This July, that daydream became history.
Batingana became the first transgender Filipina model to walk the runway on “Project Runway” during its 22nd season, a milestone more than a decade in the making for the model, actor and mentor now signed with SLAY Model Management in New York and Los Angeles.
“I felt elated and emotional at the same time,” Batingana told TOFA NEWS. “I’ve been a longtime fan of the show since I was still living in the Philippines. It’s been my dream to be part of it someday. I’m really honored that I get to represent my community and bring pride to my country.”
The moment, she said, was “a full circle” – from watching the show as a kid to walking its runway as a woman who spent nearly ten years building a modeling career in one of the toughest markets in the world.
“I know how tough and competitive modeling in New York is,” she said. “I’ve been working as a model for a decade, and I’ve heard a lot of ‘no’s.’ This isn’t just my win – it’s proof that persistence matters, and that we belong in these spaces.”
Long before New York, there was Davao.
Batingana said the southern Philippine city shaped the woman she became long before fashion entered the picture.
“During my childhood in Davao, I was always a dreamer,” she said. “I was taught to be resilient and to work hard. Davao gave me my roots. New York gave me my wings. But I fly the way I do because of where I’m from.”
Batingana said the atmosphere behind the scenes felt more like family than competition.
“Project Runway could be chaotic but the energy backstage is like a family,” she said. “The production, cast and models are very much connected and were each other’s support system. I felt very comfortable, valued and cared for during filming.”
Her breakthrough follows another watershed moment for Filipino talent on the show: designer Veejay Floresca’s Season 21 win, which made her the first openly transgender woman and first Filipino champion in the franchise’s history. Batingana calls Floresca a trailblazer.
“I’m not just following her win,” Batingana said. “I’m continuing the doors she opened.”
That sense of responsibility runs through everything Batingana hopes young trans Filipinas take from her story.
“You belong in rooms you were never imagined in,” she said. “If doors aren’t open, we build our own, and then we hold them open for each other. I’m holding the next one for you. You are worthy, you are valued, and you are seen.”
Beyond the runway, Batingana has modeled at New York Fashion Week for designers including Richie Rich’s RICHERETTE collection and Chris Nick, and her editorial work has appeared in British Vogue.
