We’ve come up with jackets and jogging pants, a bit sporty and for leisure at the same time. You can wear it anywhere.

On a night when it seemed that the gods of fashion had descended on the runway, the designs were exceptionally well-curated, eye-pleasing, well-structured, color-saturated, not awkward, not exaggerated nor theatrical.

And then, there were clothes designed by Alden Richards in collaboration with Avel Bacudio that stood out partly because Alden is a well-known celebrity and the designs were somewhat an antithesis to the parade of clothes that came before it.

“I really have no confidence in anything that involves clothes because it is out of my expertise, but given the right push, good things happen and that’s what happened in this collaboration, it was a healthy push,” Alden said during the opening night of the Panasonic Manila Fashion Festival recently held at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.

Other featured designers that night were Yong Davalos, Cheetah Rivera, Prima Villarama, Steph Tan, Jaz Cerezo, Chris Diaz and Dino Lloren.

Amid the jewel-toned gowns, classic whites, florals, plaids and prints, the Avel x Alden collection was instead sporty, wearable, comfortable and in black, maroon and white colors.

“We’ve come up with jackets and jogging pants, a bit sporty and for leisure at the same time. You can wear it anywhere,” said Alden, who admitted that the collection took some time to create, actually about three to four months, even when he and Avel were not able to meet most of the time.

“We have very hectic schedules and we don’t really see each other, but we have a Viber group and we meet whenever we can. But during the process, when I see something when I go out of the country, I take a picture, show it to them and we collaborate on it.”

Alden said that he was initially unsure if the venture would pull through. “It’s very difficult to come up with something that will be supported by the market. Every day, there is always something new in the fashion world and it’s just a matter of who will set it. We had that struggle of what if we are not able to follow the trend with the styles we are coming up with? But we believed in the brand, we believed in our concepts, our thoughts and contributions to this collaboration and that’s why we have it now,” Alden explained.

Avel concurred that the designs were a success even from the first time they sold through online platform Zilingo.

“We had a pop-up store in Eastwood. It was to open on a Sunday but there was already a line on Saturday. We were supposed to have the pop-up for 14 days but we had to shorten it because we ran out of stocks,” Avel related.

While it is a fresh venture for Alden, it is a reconnection to Avel’s fashion roots. “You know I had clients for gowns, suits, barongs, but this one is very me because when I started, I was designing streetwear.”

“I design actually on people’s need. I want comfortable, wearable, affordable and very Pinoy. You can move, you can mix and match, you can go to the party with the tops,” said Avel, who added that it is a 50-50 venture as he works on the execution based on Alden’s designs.