Patrick Del Moral

Patrick Del Moral, also known as pats_fades on Instagram, is a blast from the past for us here at Bundok. Jacob and I each grew up knowing Patrick without realizing the other did too. He's always known his way around a silhouette, and his style was something I paid attention to long before Bundok existed. Between the timeless clothing, the storied tattoos, and the content he makes, Patrick is the perfect embodiment of what Bundok stands for, so we wanted to share a little more of his story with you.

Q: How did you get into clothing, style, and fashion? How would you describe your personal style?

A: I saw fashion as a way to express myself. I really started developing my interest in fashion in high school. I grew up in San Francisco but moved to Millbrae (a small suburban city 30 minutes from San Francisco) for high school, where I only knew one other person. I thought fashion would be my way to make friends.

I think that's still what it's about for me today. It gives me an opportunity to bond with complete strangers over clothes, and that creates community — and community is lasting.

My style is attainable. I don't think everyone needs to dress like they're at NYC or Paris Fashion Week to have style. I don't think you need to have the loudest pieces to have style. I don't think you need to be wearing the most elaborate outfit to have style. You can dress well minimally, with intentional and focused pieces.

Q: You make OOTD and fashion content. What drives you?

A: Honestly, what drives me is the hope that someone sees my content and feels inspired. I spent a lot of my youth not liking the way I looked and telling myself harmful stories, battering my own self-confidence with hurtful words. I was desperately searching for someone who looked like me on the big screen or in mainstream media to validate that the way I looked was enough, but I couldn't find that.

What drives me is the chance to build community with the small platform I have, and the chance to help underrepresented people feel seen. I'd like for you to be able to see yourself in me, as I see myself in you, because at the end of the day, I feel it's the responsibility of all creators (regardless of their platform size) to empower their communities to be the best and most authentic versions of themselves.

Q: Any advice for those starting out, or who want to get started?

A: My advice is to post it. Don't overthink it, especially in the beginning. What you put into social media and content creation, you will get out. There's no way to figure out the system, since the algorithms are constantly changing.

One of my earliest videos hit 300,000 views, but for a while after that, the rest only got views in the hundreds. Don't focus so much on stats and metrics. Focus on being your most authentic self. Trendy posts introduce people to your page, but your non-trendy content is what people will follow you for and stay for.

Q: What's the hardest part about making content? What are some hidden challenges?

A: The hardest part is staying consistent, especially when you're not seeing immediate results. I've only been posting consistently since the beginning of this year (that was my New Year's resolution), but there have been moments where I gained a lot of followers quickly and moments where I lost followers overnight. Social media platforms constantly update their algorithms, which can cause those numbers to drop.

It's in those moments that you need to ask yourself why you're posting in the first place. You need to have a strong purpose, a strong base. If your only goal is to get collabs and deals, that's probably not going to work unless your career is in UGC. If you're strictly a content creator, you have to be willing to adapt to algorithm changes while still being personable and authentic.

Q: Anything else you'd like to share?

A: Don't be so hard on yourself with fashion or content creation. Style isn't developed overnight, and neither is a social media following. Take risks. Make mistakes, but learn from them. And most importantly, be yourself. Who you are as a person means more to this world than your outfits.