Bagtazo’s collections are limited. When not produced in-studio by hand, pieces are made with nearby ateliers. Every piece goes through Bagtazo’s studio and is hand finished before sending out.
Bagtazo is a Filipino surname inherited from the designer’s Maternal Grandmother.
EST 2014
The designer’s mother (far right) and her siblings stationed at a US Naval base in Japan before immigrating to San Francisco.
My designs are a reaction to my surroundings and the desire the change the world around me.
I have been making jewelry and taking photographs since I was a child. I grew up in a small beach town in Southern California. My mother is from the Philippines and my father is Irish Catholic from the state of Georgia. I also had a long-term babysitter from El Salvador growing up who taught me Spanish. This hyphenated identity shaped me into the person I am today.
At age 17 I worked at a surf shop, Kanvas by Katin, where the owner cut and sewed bespoke surf trunks. I helped take measurements for orders, organize patterns, and learned to hand-cut fabric. After Katin, I continued my work in fashion, eventually moving to Los Angeles where I learned product development and production for the apparel industry.
In Los Angeles, I studied philosophy and visual anthropology at the University of Southern California, earning two bachelor’s degrees.
Throughout my studies, I continued to work behind the scenes in product development and production for various brands; my career now spanning over two decades in the industry.
I currently live in NYC. My friends and family call me Coco and so can you.
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Anything made outside of my studio is produced with people that I consider essential to Bagtazo.
My manufacturing partners are a network of small businesses based in the United States.
I feel strongly about working with partners nearby, because these workers are the glue that are holding the slow fashion economy together. With their support and skillsets, we create pieces that respect the tradition of craft without over-producing.
I’ve also been an environmentalist since I was a child. For this reason, I work with transparent sources, natural materials whenever possible, and continually strive towards the most sustainable business I can in a world that creates things to consume.
While Bagtazo may change over the years, these are my core values. This is a commitment to myself, my working partners and all Bagtazo customers.
Grandma Tess in Southern California in the 1960s
Bagtazo regularly donates to grassroots & mutual aid funds. Bagtazo created the Bagtazo Foundation, a direct fund for mental health and addiction treatment, that can be accessed here.
