Abakada

Twenty Letters. One Brand. A Whole Culture to Carry.

Abakada is the Filipino alphabet: 20 letters, the foundation of the language, the first thing every Filipino child learns to write. When Arvin Boyon and Calvin Calma named their brand after it in 2018, the choice was deliberate. They weren’t just launching a streetwear label from Chicago. They were staking a claim: this brand starts from the beginning, from the roots, from the letters.

The brand’s visual language pulls directly from Filipino cultural memory. Jeepneys, the chrome-adorned, hand-painted icons of Philippine streets, appear on jerseys. Baybayin, the ancient pre-colonial script that predates Spanish colonization, runs across hoodies. Sampaguita, the national flower, blooms across tees. None of it is decorative. Every graphic is a conversation about identity, carried on a body moving through a world where Filipino culture is rarely centered.

Abakada doesn’t operate like a traditional label. The brand hosts events, champions Filipino artists and creatives, and builds collaborations that reinforce community over commerce. A March 2023 collab with DBTK, one of the Philippines’ most respected streetwear labels, brought the Chicago diaspora brand into direct conversation with the Manila scene, offering exclusive colorways across tees, hoodies, and shorts.

The range spans hoodies, outerwear, jerseys, knits, bottoms, and accessories, priced from $35 to $130. Many pieces run as pre-orders, made to order, which means every garment exists because someone chose it. For a brand built on the idea that Filipino identity deserves to be worn with pride, that intentionality is fitting.