Fight till your last breath. God is with us!” Eddie Baddeo—designer extraordinaire, enfant terrible, bad boy of Philippine fashion—lived and died with this mantra when he succumbed to colorectal cancer on August 16, after spending almost two weeks in the hospital.
“We wondered what Eddie was holding on to,” said his lifetime partner, Edgar Medina. “Then we realized that he waited for August 16 to come because that’s the 33rd anniversary of him becoming a designer.”
Eddie was one of my early champions. He was already a huge name in fashion when I started writing for the defunct Today newspaper. For him to have been patient, accommodating and generous to a newbie, when he was already a darling of the lifestyle editors, is something I’m eternally grateful.
The cliche “parang natutulog lang” is true in Eddie’s case as he lays in his immaculate coffin. He is dressed in a red canvas linen suit, an ensemble he was supposed to wear to an event he never got to attend. As Eddie could no longer speak days before he died, he asked for his sketch of the suit and drew the ostrich feathers around the neckline and cuffs, expressing his desire for the details to be added for that Eddie Baddeo flair.
Rebel, avant-garde, trailblazer
Eddie, 57, came from a kindred line of designers who rebelled against the Establishment. From Paco Rabanne, the local lineage stretches from Jun-Jun Cambe to Rocky Gathercole to every fashion student doing unconventional clothes.
“He was the bad boy of Philippine fashion because of his out-of-the-box designs,” Gathercole gushed in a tribute post. To which designer Ronaldo Arnaldo added: “And he evolved to be one of the best and the most sought-after fashion designers in Manila! His body of work exudes maturity and high-quality glamor and sophistication! Truly one of the best fashion designers in the country! Eddie will surely be missed!”
Feisty, beautiful and feminine, Eddie blazed the trail for transgender designers in the industry. He didn’t mind being addressed as a “he” or a “she,” but would be infuriated if he was referred to as a “Mister” or “Sir.” He was not a social justice warrior who ferociously fought against discrimination, but just by living his own truth, he inspired a younger generation of designers and LGBTs to love themselves more.
Lucky in love
To an extent, Edgar Medina is the Pierre Bergé to Eddie’s YSL, a business-personal relationship that has lasted an enviable 32 years. Eddie can be temperamental and moody, but Edgar was a calming, steady counterpoint.
Before and during Eddie’s 13-day stay at the Lung Center, Edgar was a solid presence, making sure that he’d only cry when a deteriorating Eddie wasn’t aware of it. When Eddie said, “Di na yata ako aabot sa birthday ko [December 19],” Edgar pretended he didn’t hear it. And when Eddie asked, “Mamamatay na ba ako?” Edgar, as Eddie’s greatest love, couldn’t keep his heart from bursting.
From supermodels to society women
“Modelo ka, you’re a living hanger, a live mannequin, ‘[‘yan] ang nagbibigay buhay sa mga creations ng mga designers,’ ‘yan ang sabi mo sa akin nung nag-start ako, Tita Eddie Baddeo,” wrote Maricris Perez, the Christy Turlington of the Philippines who was nurtured by Eddie when she was a neophyte model. “Thank you for making me your muse. Ang dami natin kwento. You have a very special place in my heart. Sobrang mami-miss kita. Magkakasama na kayo ni Purple [Eddie’s 15-year-old dog]. [You’re] one big loss in the fashion industry.”
Eddie was known—and sometimes resented—for getting the top models to exclusively walk for him at group shows, such as at Fashion Watch, Philippine Fashion Week, Ben Farrales’ Flores de Mayo and the Quezon City designers’ galas. The models readily agree, because Eddie pampers them and pays exorbitant fees.
Male model-turned-photographer Bong Regala stated: “I will always remember Eddie Baddeo, who valued the worth of a model! Whenever he gets a model for a pictorial and runway, he makes sure his models are taken care of physically and financially kahit gumastos ‘yan ng makeup artist! And food! Kailangan ma-i-project ng model nang maayos at maganda ang pinaghirapan n’yang damit! He will always pay models fairly! And extravagantly!”
Eddie considered Melanie Marquez the greatest Filipina model of all time. But it’s Marina Benipayo who was his favorite supermodel to work with.
“Eddie and I first met in 1988 right after I won in the Bodyshots contest and did a cover shoot for a magazine [I think it was Chic]. From then on, he would hire me as his finale model for most of his gala shows,” a grateful Marina remembered. “I had semiretired from modeling in the mid-1990s but he told me I couldn’t retire yet—and continued to get me for shows. That was how much Eddie believed in me. Never pretentious, Eddie saw life in a positive light. Rest now in God’s loving arms, Eddie, we will miss you.”
In recent years, Eddie toned down on his penchant for models and spectacular fashion shoots and focused on his other muses—the society women who are tireless fund-raisers for charities. The stylish philanthropists he would dress for high-society affairs, such as the Philippine Cancer Society’s Philippines Best Dressed Awards and Manila’s Best Dressed Awards were Elaine Villar, Dr. Elsie Pascua, jeweler Mila Imson and restaurateur Rose Tolentino Santiago.
Entrepreneur Marcott Almeda was one of Eddie’s closest clients: “I met Shawie—or Sisterhood, that’s how I call him—at Powerflex gym and from there we clicked. I watched his fashion shows if I had time. We became really close when he made my Filipiniana gown for the Phil-Hong Kong Association of the Philippines’s Independence Ball in Hong Kong, and when I was an awardee for the Best Dressed Women of the Philippines 2011. By then, I was known as one of the Baddeo muses. As a designer, he liked unique clothes, to experiment and with drama, that’s why he is called the bad boy of Philippine fashion. As a friend, he was very generous, loving and caring.”
The fashion trend that needs to die
In the past four years, some fashion luminaries have died in quick succession: Gerry Katigbak, Pepsi Herrera, Danilo Franco, Pitoy Moreno, Cesar Gaupo, James Reyes, and young photographers and stylists. The industry is deflated; this disturbing trend has to stop.
Come September 13 and 14, acclaimed Filipiniana designers will gather at the Cultural Center of the Philippines for a gala to celebrate the book launch of Obra Maestra: A Portrait of Excellence in Philippine Fashion and Culture by Zardo Austria.
This is an event that Eddie, one of the featured designers, was looking forward to. The proceeds of the ticket sales for the show and the book will benefit the Duyog Marawi of Bishop Edwin de la Peña and the construction of the monastery and chapel of the Benedictine Sisters in Mexico, Pampanga.
Putting the F-U-N in funeral
Eddie Baddeo had this idea during his mother’s funeral about two decades ago. “What if I do a fashion show where models would walk around a casket, pause—and pose!—while viewing the dead, then walk away to exit?” He mused. “They’ll be wearing all-black couture, of course!”
That concept actually happened a few years after, during the Spring/Summer 2001 show by cult brand Imitation of Christ held at a New York City funeral parlor. Thom Browne has also had his models rise from a coffin, resurrected by their love for fashion, in a show in February 2012.
Eddie will be cremated tomorrow, as per his last request. So, tonight, model Ava Abejar will lead a group of models to sashay around Chapel 12 of Arlington Memorial Homes wearing Baddeo couture creations as a fitting send-off to a fashion icon. It’s a glorious, dramatic and staggering way to say goodbye. Very extra. So Eddie Baddeo.
Image credits: Edward De la Cuesta, Henry Anima II