In memoriam: Auggie Cordero
Many Filipinas will feel the keen sense of loss at losing one of the very last master couturiers of the country—with his creations he helped make Margie Moran Miss Universe, Anna Bayle a supermodel, and Tingting Cojuangco, Imee Marcos, and Kris Aquino sartorial forces in the political world.
Auggie Cordero has bowed out after more than 50 years as one of the country’s most respected and beloved fashion designers. The haute couturier, dubbed by the first international Filipina international supermodel Anna Bayle as the “Oscar Dela Renta of the Philippines,” has passed on. He died of acute pneumonia failure and sepsis shock at Makati Medical Center on Oct. 24, 2022. He was 78.
His storied career in fashion began when he was 19, while he was taking a degree in Commerce at the Far Eastern University.
After many stints working with different designers, Auggie decided to give it a go in the ‘60s, only to close shop in the chaos of the Martial Law years. In 1970, he met his patroness, the woman who would change the arc of his career—socialite Chito Madrigal Collantes.
In a 2015 interview with society magazine Philippine Tatler, Cordero says it was Chito Madrigal who helped catapult his career. After doing the luncheon fashion shows of the Hyatt Hotel, Auggie would take his show to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur.
It was around this time that Auggie also boldly changed the way our barong Tagalog looked. Groundbreaking at the time was his presentation of the national attire, worn by women. He made the stiff barong more casual, more modern, easy to wear, less starchy, more everyday cool.
It was Auggie and his boundless creativity that reimagined the barong and paired it with colorful camisa de chino or pants. He made it modern without losing its appeal and its faithfulness to beautiful embroidery.
Even then he wanted fashionistas to look at the Philippines and adapt the barong’s aesthetic to fit their own styles, whether as casual or resort wear. Even then he wanted women to power dress in barong tunics.
Many Filipinas will feel the keen sense of loss at losing one of the very last master couturiers of the country—with his creations he helped make Margie Moran Miss Universe, Anna Bayle a supermodel, and Tingting Cojuangco, Imee Marcos, and Kris Aquino sartorial forces in the political world. Lisa Macuja Elizalde became a bride in an Auggie Cordero.
The designer may have passed, but his legacy in Philippine fashion lives forever.