About

You hear Avel before you see him. It is that deliberately uncontrolled, reverberating and infectious laughter that immediately calls your attention. Then you final see him: a wisp of a man who can easily pass for a Japanese with particularly round glasses and a smile that literally stretches from coast to cast. And even before he mutters a single syllable, you know this man is out to overwhelm you not because he wants to prove a point — but out of a very natural fact that he overwhelms.

Avel Bacudio may be recognized as one of the forces in Philippine fashion but he is not one for a lot of drumbeating to put himself higher on the food chain. Although he is dead serious about fashion, he never takes himself all that too seriously. You will not hear Avel talk over your head in order to impress you with what he knows, what he has done or what he is doing. He can go on and on discussing fashion because he loves what he is doing — and he cannot help but be impassioned by it.

For instance, Avel is one person who can literally go into delirium discussing fabrics and the business of fashion. There is an endless and inexhaustible curiosity in him that keeps him evolving. Whether he is into the complex machinery of ready-to-wear or the challenge of making wearable yet exceptionally crafted and designed clothes in couture, Avel can show you the same feverish enthusiasm.

And that says a lot. Whereas there may be others who have rested on their laurels or used their names as brands to become shields for the quality of their output, Avel Bacudio keeps his aesthetics changing as he is endlessly learning and re-learning. It is this same open minded thinking that has also made him one of the most generous people out there in a field where competition is not only cutthroat but may include hurling scissors and strangulation by measuring tape.

You remember Avel because he works hard … and delivers what is expected from him and more. Over and above all this, he has never let success be a hindrance to his ceaseless growth nor corrupted his attitude. He is the same Avel who you hear before you see — and would laugh at life as if it were one big fitting session.

For the decades yet to come, there is almost certainty that you will hear more of Avel Bacudio not only as an artist but a great human being.