On the road to finding success, it is important to first establish what one truly wants. This alone has a big impact in shaping one's future. Though aided by luck, it wasn't mere chance that fashion designer and entrepreneur Lulu Tan-Gan has achieved success. Her ability to decide what she wants has led her to where she is today.

The youngest of eleven children, Tan-Gan was deciding between political science and an arts-related course by the time she was about to enter college. Though she wanted to try for a career in foreign affairs that may get her a job in the UN, she realized that her parents probably wouldn't let her work abroad. So she ultimately decided to pursue the latter choice, taking up Advertising Arts at the University of Santo Tomas, as well as summer courses at the Madonna School of Fashion. Even at the university, she was already making waves with her fashion sense when she cropped her Fine Arts uniform into a miniskirt.

In her enthusiasm for fashion, Tan-Gan applied for a job at the SM Department Store even while she was still in school. There she got a spot at the shoe design section but was eventually assigned as a merchandiser, which gave her the opportunity to travel abroad with Teresita Sy-Coson when purchasing products for SM Boutique Square. She was later given the option to design either lingerie or knitwear, and her choice put her on the road to becoming known as the country's knit queen.

Tan-Gan's decision to design knitwear stemmed from the common notion then that such garments were too warm for a tropical country. She wanted to give the market trendy variations such as cotton knits that are more suitable for our weather.

Luck was on her side when she met a Japanese merchandiser and ended up creating a line for a chain of boutiques in Japan for two years. After that, she went local and joined a trade program promoting Philippine garments in Europe. She was able to exhibit her creations in Paris, Dusseldorf, Munich, Amsterdam, Milan, Dallas, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. This got her orders that allowed her to start exporting. 1985 saw the establishment of Tan-Gan De Manille, her manufacturing, exporting and retail venture. The Tan-Gan designer label has since spawned sub-labels Tan-Gan Women, TG, and TG-Men. The designs created under these lines are famous for their simple elegance that blends fashion and function in easy-to-wear styles. As a testament to their international appeal, Tan-Gan's collections have been covered by Elsa Klensch and featured on CNN's Style.

From 1995 to 2001, Tan-Gan was the president of the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines (FDCP), and has since been chairman of its advisory board. She helped in forming a partnership between the council and the government for a joint participation in the International Young Fashion Designers Competition in Paris. Aside from this, she has been a board member of the Alliance Francaise de Manille since 2002, and she received the Chevalier dans l'Order des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in July 2003.

Today, Tan-Gan remains steadfast in her mission to strengthen the educational foundation of young fashion designers. She gives talks at schools in order to encourage students to take part in fashion competitions. She hopes to impart the message that the industry is not only about designs, but can also be an entrepreneurial venture. As such, Tan-Gan has been fortunate because she has always enjoyed what she's doing and her business does not feel like too much hard work at all.